HALO
by sherlocks
Summary: Attracting attention was the last thing he wanted. To everyone, he was the quiet, invisible nerd in the farthest corner of the classroom and it was easier that way. But it didn't matter how hard he tried to hide — if nothing, he was a born singer.
1. Chapter 1

Taking a break from my other Inuyasha story, Game of Cat and Mouse, because it's getting rather intense and I'm in the process of editing the next 3 chapters I've already written. This story means a lot to me and I will try my best to keep it light-hearted, so I hope you will enjoy. Please review if you'd like to see me continue writing.

**Summary:** He chose to hide his talents, his love for music, his very being for the sake of his family. Attracting attention was the last thing he wanted. To everyone, he was the quiet, invisible nerd in the farthest corner of the classroom and it was easier that way. But it didn't matter how hard he tried to hide—if nothing, he was a born singer.

**HALO**

**CHAPTER 1: A SECRET IS MEANT TO BE UNKNOWN**

The uniformed boy kicked the largest rock his nimble feet could reach and he huffed a silent breath of fatigue through his thin scarf and into the extrapolating cold air. He was beyond tired. But who could blame him? Honestly, if you weren't the least bit down after studying at the quietest and most deadpan fucking library for a straight 8 hours—right after school, might he add—then you're a loser with no life and just get GTFO of this story right now.

The silver haired boy sighed and readjusted the thick, heavy glasses which, without a doubt, were weighing an unsightly dent on the bridge of his nose. No, no, he couldn't return home like this. Not in this emotional condition.

And just like getting an answer from a certain superior being, Inuyasha spotted a karaoke bar at the end of the block. Inconspicuous, underground, and—checking his watch and the surround area—too late for anyone he knew to be around such a dangerous area so far away from his school.

Perfect.

He took out the dark, old beanie from his tote bag and swiftly put it on, making sure to keep a large volume of his silvery hair in, thus flawlessly incorporating a disguise over a disguise. Damn, he was good. He speed walked to the end of the block, took the narrow flight of stairs down to the basement and came face to face with an elaborate entrance. Fuck. He thought it was going to be cheap, but it looked like he was wrong. But he can't leave now. He needed this. Right now.

Inuyasha licked his licks hungrily and wiped his bottom lip dry with his right thumb. A habit he never did grow out of, but a habit that meant he was about to get serious.

He pushed the doors open, asked what he had to ask and soon, a woman from the counter was gesturing him into a room. Her expression told him he had failed miserably at a good first impression, especially so since he mentioned he wouldn't be ordering any drinks or food. Not that he cared. Not now when he was finally in a fully soundproof room with tinted glass on door. It was even far from the entrance and the washrooms, the farthest down the corridor, which meant he wasn't going to be disturbed indefinitely.

Without delay, Inuyasha stripped off or fooled with the items of his disguises, all except his beanie. That was never to be removed when in his alter ego. It was a strict decree he'd kept in the last 17 years of his life and he wasn't about to change regulations.

He turned on the all too familiar audio systems and grabbed the closest microphone as he flipped through the long, long list of artists for his one of his favourites. It was great that Beyonce started with a B, which meant it took him no time to find the song he wanted. Listen. That was the one. Without skipping a beat, it was selected and soon, Inuyasha was standing in a trance, fully ready to let out all the frustrations that had built up the passed week.

"_Listen,_

_To the song here in my heart,  
>A melody I start but can't complete,<br>Listen,  
>To the sound from deep within,<br>It's only beginning to find release,  
>Oh, the time has come,<br>For my dreams to be heard,  
>They will not be pushed aside and turned,<br>Into your own, all 'cause you won't listen,…."_

And soon, his eyes were closed. His voice that had the broad capacity to sound like a woman's, slowing rose in volume and sweat began to cling to his pale, velvety skin. So into it was he, that even as the song neared closing, he continued to sing, as if the music and the instrumentals were already ingrained in his head. He sang passionately, all his emotions, his everything into the empty room, hoping desperately it was enough.

And he listened. He listened to the invisible band behind him, hitting all the right notes with unparalleled accuracy, to the powerful lyrics that told his very story, and nothing else. Because nothing else mattered, and his vocals had descended beyond what the poor microphone could normally take.

And inevitably, he had missed the soft click of the door knob behind him, as a tall man of glistening nearly white hair and the crowd he brought with him prepared to enter the room as if they had done it thousands of times before.

Needless to say, the group was shocked. First at the discovery of a stranger actually having the nerve to steal their regular room, but ultimately, it was the boy's magnetic voice. Beautiful and hitting every key, tone, and pitch impeccably. Full of ardor and zeal, yet with an undeniable hint of elegance and pain, of gentleness and curiosity, of fear and optimism. Which, to say to the least, was completely unexpected from such a lithe body.

But soon, all doubts were cast aside as they became equally spellbound, simply burning their gaze into the boy's back. A strong posterior that was clearly exposed through the white of the boy's undershirt, stained in drops of minuscule sweat. A vaguely broad back with hot blooded, trembling, pulsating muscles roaring times of endeavors, tears, laughs, hurt, pride, and fever—of experience.

Their ears captured by the music, his voice, their eyes captured by his few but thoughtful body movements and how they effortlessly flicked drops of wet into the heat of the enclosing air.

Inuyasha ended his solo with another nippy flick of his bottom lip as he turned around, intending to sit back down. And the leader of the group at the door picked up on it, on impulse really, and swiftly stored every visual detail into his head. And in the next second, his eyes made contact with the boy's and as curious golden trapped fiery, aggressive amber, he felt every nerve in his body react.

But the hex lasted only two seconds, before the boy's eyes expanded in surprise and he quickly looked away with a full 180. And Sesshomaru thought, that as nice as it was to be able to see the damp, musky consequences of the boy's interesting activities again, he'd much rather analyze those orbs once more.

He needed to, as something told him that time was of the essence at this very moment.

As the minions he brought with him cheered, clapped, and hooted the boy from behind him, Sesshomaru treaded towards the boy, entirely intent on capturing the mysterious man that perceptibly held a precarious secret. But as he did this, the boy was making his own preparations—to escape that is.

Inuyasha immediately began to pick up his scattered belongings, trying his best to cover up as much evidence that might lead to his identity as rapidly as he could.

…He was more desperate than usual, because the man who was currently walking up to him was none other than the infamous "king" of his school. The smartass student council president who's family owned not only the entire institution including its entire board, but also half of the fucking city. He was a walking moneybag made of gold and shimmers. He was a top scholar, the attentive type by nature.

He was the most motherfucking dangerous man Inuyasha could encounter in this situation.

Life, why are you such a bitch? Why do you hate me, heaven? Goodbye, my beautiful, Asian ass. It was really nice knowing you, if I don't get out of this alive.

Another speedy mental curse and Inuyasha's escape plan was put into action. His hair was hidden away, all uniform logos were covered, his personal belongings were stuffed into his plain black tote bag and his thick glasses and neutral, apathetic face was back on his face again—his nerdy persona was back in action and nothing had been given away. He kept his head generously low and just as he was about the run pass the biggest adversary of his life, Sesshomaru reached out to grab his calloused hand

Fuck.

A momentary pause and then the boy managed to pull himself free from Sesshomaru's grasp before running out the door, through the opening his underlings had stupidly made available. But Sesshomaru hadn't missed how unexpectedly chilly the hand was. Sweaty, yes, which was probably the sole explanation of the boy's escape in the first place, but instead of scorching hot, it was pleasantly cold.

Ah, so the boy was nervous. But the question was why?

And as Sesshomaru brought the forgotten petite container of azure-coloured eye contacts to his lips, he made a silent promise to answer that very question.

Thanks for reading guys! Please review if you'd like to see me continue writing.  
>Beyonce – Listen, based on this video: http:w /wa tch?v=_vpjU CSMw_4

(remove the spaces)

And just a heads up, I'm the type to gradually increase the length of chapters as I go, if you readers will allow me.

Also, I don't plan to do a lot of editing for this story. Just like how I wrote this chapter, I will more often than not, just finish updates in one go. Because my writing is really about my immediate feelings.

See you next time (hopefully)!


	2. Chapter 2

Not a lot of editting = more updates for you!

But a friend of mine suggested I try out this beta'ing business, lol. So I wanted to ask, is anyone interested in beta'ing for this story? I know it's still rather young, but I hope you'll put your faith in me. 

Most importantly, I just wanted to thank my readers who reviewed and cheered me on.  
>And no worries, I will update my other story, Game of Cat and Mouse, soon! The chapters are just getting rather long and I'm also trying to take the advice of some of my readers from over there. That story can count as my very first after a long, long break so I'll never abandon it! Thank you!<p>

**HALO**

**CHAPTER 2: HE NEEDS TIPS FROM BATMAN**

"Fuuuuuuuck."

Yes, that's right. Just. Just. Fuck it all.

Inuyasha sighed and slowly shielded his weary eyes from the bright light that had been raping the shit out of his sensitive eyes for the last half an hour or so. He hadn't had a wink of sleep last night, no thanks to the touchy-feely president! God, he could just feel the dark burns under his eyes! And as he stared at the time on the clock that was telling him he'd better rush his ass, he knew today was going to be a horrible day. Another quick sigh and he was in the washroom, reluctantly getting ready for school.

The bus was rather slow today, Inuyasha noticed, as he took the beautiful scenery from one of the seats in the back. The luscious forest was a promise that the front entrance of his school would soon come into view. And nature didn't lie.

Moments later, Inuyasha spotted the large gates of the famous "Western Lands" Academy rising from the horizon like the thorns of a rose. As much as he hated attending there because of the ridiculously snobbish students, it was the only school wealthy enough to offer him a full scholarship. Sad, yeah, he knows. But the reality of the situation was that he simply couldn't afford to pay the full or even partial tuition at any other private schools.

Sure, there were public high schools that wanted him—badly even, because he always managed to keep the most impressive grades and resume—but he knew they would eventually ask him for money too. Fundraisers, school trips, food, even exams! He didn't care what anyone else thought, but money was the most sought-after celebrity in the universe. And it can go fuck itself. Personifications aside, Inuyasha was convinced he was the type that didn't attract or get along with celebrities of any kind or level—human or not—and that included the man currently getting out of the black limousine which bore the school's logo, up front.

Inuyasha made a face behind Sesshomaru's back and readjusted his glasses again before lifting himself up and exiting the bus. He crossed the street and hid behind some taller students while crouching slightly, completely hiding himself from the king's view. Not too much effort was necessary, really, since the large crowd of women—and men—was doing a pretty fun job.

But god, he seriously couldn't wait for second semester to start! He'd be able to leave his dinky apartment and move into the new school residence then! His scholarship included housing and provisions, but they had announced the start of renovations and the constructing of new buildings to accommodate more students at the beginning of this year and it did a toll of Inuyasha's sanity.

It was nice for the school to offer the students with scholarships money for accommodation off-campus for the full first semester as compensation, but there were still travel troubles. Inuyasha had been smart to use only one third of the monthly donations. As a result, his piggy bank was now bordering obese, but one sacrifice he had been forced to make was time.

His dinky apartment was at least 2 hours away from school, even by bus. First of all, he wasn't a morning person. Like, not even the slightest. Second of all, the route the bus took was so full of holes and ditches and hugeass bumps, all threatening to bruise his ass cheeks to infinity and beyond. And lastly, the bus's service schedule was so fucked up that for the first time in his entire life, Inuyasha had to seriously worry for his perfect attendance. So yeah, second semester, please come soon before you cause any human implosions happen, okay?

What with all these prayers in his head, Inuyasha reached the gates in no time. A glance at his watch told him he had barely half an hour to rush to the washroom and get his contacts on before first period would begin. It was the one finishing touch that he unfortunately had no time to complete for fear of missing the god forsaken bus.

Sighing again, he calmly walked into the main building and headed toward the washrooms, trying his best to remind himself that a certain someone who was currently at the said building's main entrance didn't know what he looked like—that he hadn't given any piece of himself anyway, that he was certainly safe from harm, that he will forever be the quiet, invisible nerd in the farthest corner of the classroom. Keep it cool, Inuyasha, he's totally clueless.

As an extra measure, he took a round about route to his final destination just so they would be as far away as possible. But all his confidence depleted the minute he arrived in the empty washroom. They were gone. His contacts couldn't be found anywhere in his tote bag. Even when he unloaded every single book, tool, and trinket, the final piece of his disguise didn't appear.

"What. The. Fuck." He blatantly exasperated, hearing a faint echo. "Where are they?" Even now, he was scratching every corner of the bottom of his bag. "I didn't touch them this morning! It has to be in here!"

"What has to be in where?" 

"My contacts! I'm sure I put them in my bag last night! Shit, where…" Inuyasha froze instantly.

There was someone else in the washroom. Wait, no, that's not it. What's it is, why the fuck hadn't he noticed? He was sure it was empty!

Okay, okay, it's okay. Just act quickly to avoid any suspicion. Be as uninteresting as possible and the guy'll forget you in no time flat. It's not like he hadn't run into this sort of trouble before. He's only a teeny tiny bit shaken up because he hadn't expected to lose his contacts.

Inuyasha pulled his thick, nearly-opaque-for-the-audience glasses up to completely cover his eyes as he stood weakly, already in nerd mode.

"Nothing." He calmly stated as he turned around to face his slight miscalculation.

No. Inuyasha was wrong.

The biggest miscalculation of his life. Why the hell did this guy keep popping up out of nowhere?

Oh but don't be fooled—although he was freaking the fuck out in his head, his face had remained utterly indifferent throughout.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" Sesshomaru asked politely. But Inuyasha recognized it was an act, knew that familiar counterfeit tone he himself often used far too well. And he was stunned. Only a little though, to hear and ascertain such a thing the first time he talks to the almighty king.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks." Inuyasha nodded in respect and appreciation, but that only made him become conscious of the fact that Sesshomaru could potentially recognize any of his personal items from last night… and in particular, the beanie that was at this very moment, closer to the student council president than it was to him.

Oh shitcakes.

"Here, let me help you." Sesshomaru stubbornly persisted and reached down for the nearest item. And Inuyasha dove. He dove forward as fast as he could to cover the beanie before Sesshomaru could see. And he succeeded too. However, his warm hand was now on top of his and he wondered if smacking it away or pulling his hand back would cause any doubt or be at all disrespectful to the elder.

"N-no… no thank you." Inuyasha practically panted out. "I don't want to trouble you, senpai."

Inuyasha downcast eyes missed how Sesshomaru's scanned him with considerable suspicion. "I insis—"

"Class is about to begin, senpai." He cut him off abruptly and began to hastily collect his belongings. And in that split second that he turned his back to him, Sesshomaru pulled out the dumbbell shaped container he picked up last night and threw it among the scatter items. Even as the sound of the bell vibrated evidently through the walls of the washroom, his sharp, apprehensive eyes remained solely on the anxious but ignorant boy's face.

And then, there it was.

The very reaction he had been hoping to see.

A divine reaction that simply took his breath away.

As Inuyasha continued to return his things back to where they originally belonged—in his tote bag—and with even more vigor as the sound of the warning bell reached his ears, he failed to notice the shifting of his glasses.

His next search landed on a recognizable small, white object near Sesshomaru's feet. His sunset orbs, now entirely visible to the much taller Sesshomaru, had widened just enough for the critical man to recognize the pleasant surprise they unmistakably depicted. All personal space disregarded, he grabbed it at once. Ah ha! He knew it! It had been in his bag all along, he wasn't going mentally unstable! Missing no beat at all, the corners of Inuyasha's lips began to rise ever so faintly and a diminutive slit let out a sigh of everything that defined serene.

And Sesshomaru greedily and obsessively mentally devoured the entire scene to its very last millisecond.

As the boy slung the full bag over his shoulder and gave him his thanks, Sesshomaru couldn't help but smirk.

He had found his boy.

What were the chances really? After the boy left his karaoke bar last night, Sesshomaru promptly fired the newbie who had mistakenly given his favourite private room away. But that was after she had given him every detail she had on the boy, which really wasn't much considering the woman's downright stupidity. One aspect did interest him though. The fact that the boy had been wearing his school's costume. Which meant the numbers were much easier for him to work with now.

But what he hadn't foreseen was the event of finding the boy the very next day and in the loo no less. And as he stared at the time on his watch that was telling him he'd better rush his ass, he knew today was going to be a brilliant day.

Please review if you'd like to see me continue writing!


	3. Chapter 3

Still hoping for a beta! Anyone interested should hit me up! :) Thanks.

Edit after Dizzy1234's comment: lol, still considering a beta because I don't edit the chapters of this story, pretty much just write and upload it without looking back. This is due to a variety of reasons, so I worry about making any grammatical, punctuation or spelling mistakes. XD And thank you, so so so sosososo much for your lovely review. :)

**CHAPTER 3: WHY CAN'T POKEMON BE REAL, DAMNIT. RUNNING AWAY FROM WILD, BLACKMAILING ASSHOLES THAT JUST POP OUT OF NO WHERE WOULD BE SO MUCH EASIER. **

Slow hands creeped up to the edge of sill and popped open the glass window, letting in a lovely breeze. Ah, what a nice day. Albeit it would have been a lot nicer if Inuyasha hadn't run into a certain someone so early in the morning today. Seriously, the lousy president was starting to annoy him even more than he usually did. Sighing to the wind, he propped himself back in his chair properly as his homeroom teacher came in, said his greetings and began the lesson.

As usual, everything was a bore. He knew everything the instructor was teaching, probably understood it and applied it more than the big man himself, but he couldn't show that in his face. Of course he couldn't. The man might get fired. Or worse. The old man might even bring the class's attention to him and Inuyasha was never fond of beady, curious eyes. At all. He'd pull off yet another charade; make it look like he was working hard and paying attention, make it seem like he really deserved it when he got a high mark, so that no one would notice how abnormally intelligent he was. Because you know, that was a rather risky venture as well.

A couple of hours later, the suited man said his farewells and break was beginning. Inuyasha read the atmosphere in the room; the annoying cliques were off in their own little world, the lazy sleeping and snoring without a care, and the nerds burning their eyes into their girlfriends, er, books in a most pathetic scene. Ahem. Yes. This was the perfect moment to sneak out. Slipping his arm into his bag hanging on his chair, he brought out and stuffed the contacts in his back pocket and walked out the door.

The hallway was long and elaborate and perfectly clean, as usual. Oh, but this was just the crust. The higher your year, the better the benefits. Being a second year, Inuyasha was pretty happy with the standards. He felt himself extremely lucky and had no complaints. He thought it was pretty nice back in first year, but he got slapped in the face pretty hard—in a good kind of way, mind you—when he entered second year.

Not that the two grades were completely set apart, because they were in the same building, though in opposite ends, and there were no restrictions in roaming, but it was a general social regulation to stick with people your age. Inuyasha's feet had, back then, never touched the hallway floors belonging to the second years even once. That was another risk. So the big change was a bit of a shock. Good shock and bad. Good because damn, having fully furbished student lounges the size of a skating rink was pretty fucking sick, but bad because the realization that the people in this school were crazier than he thought made him almost back out. Almost.

That being said, just imagine the third years' property! Inuyasha heard the gap between the second years and the third years was huge. They did have the largest portion in the main building after all. But not only that, there was another entire building, of similar size to the main one but far more luxurious, that was only open to third years, and even there, the top floors were specially restricted to the tops of the final grade, which included... Inuyasha shivered and shook his head fervently, baffled and annoyed by the fact that his thoughts were once again back to the elusive student council president. Not cool.

He practically ran into the washroom at this point, hoping his heart would pump enough blood to his brain to rush the awkward thoughts away. A thankfully, no one was inside. He even double checked every stall, just in case and totally not because of the mishap that happened this morning. But of course the place was empty, since it was the least popular of the second year washrooms because of a stupid ghost story that Inuyasha still couldn't help giggling at. Seriously. headless kids at this day and age? They seriously couldn't come up with anything better? Spoiled, brainless rich kids, phft.

As quickly as he could, he slipped off his heavy glasses and placed the zero prescription contacts over his cornea. Blinking away the first few seconds of initial discomfort, the disguise was finally complete. Truthfully, Inuyasha preferred not to wear the contacts. He believed the opaque glasses were enough, and they were. At least in middle school anyway. Back then, there were no pools. No compulsory swimming. No marks involved. And unfortunately, the lens of the underwater goggles given by the school was no where near as obscure to the viewer as his own glasses. So contacts had to be ordered.

It was a motherfucking stuggle to do that too, Inuyasha remembered angrily. He had first considered brown coloured contacts—normal and common. But there was a small problem. Back in middle school, his hair had been black. His natural locks were silver, but to avoid any weird looks, he had worn a wig every school day. Because there was no way in hell he could dye his hair. The moment his hair grew even the slightest amount, the contrast between his own color and the dye would instantly give him away. So yes, wigs.

But again, high school brought with it, numerous unforeseen troubles. You can't swim with a wig. You can't hide a wig easily either. And with the cleaning staff coming in to clean the residence rooms every week, Inuyasha couldn't risk it. So he had to reconsider some parts of his disguise, which… inevitably forced him to alter other parts as well. I mean come on, black hair with amber eyes were not that bad, if people even got to see it. But how do you explain practically snow white hair and brown eyes, let alone gold, together? Worse combo. Ever.

It had been one of those moments that Inuyasha actually found his hair bothersome. So after much consideration, he went with the only eye color that seemed remotely logical when seen together with his hair: azure blue. His written explanation is that his hair was in fact a very, very… very bleached version of blonde. Yes. That's right.

Whatever. It worked and people believed him. Shut up.

Having deftly finished his task, Inuyasha slipped his glasses back on and strolled back to class. As he neared the doors, however, he noticed that it was far too quiet. His watch said there were at least 10 more minutes before the next class started, so why did he not hear any of the normal ridiculous conversations behind these walls? He read the sign overhead again and clarified the room was indeed his. Sighing again and hoping that he wasn't going to regret it, he slowly crooked the doors open. He peered inside only a bit and gasped when he saw the cause of his confusion.

There stood Sesshomaru in all his rotten glory. And he brought along his crew too. What the shit was a third year doing in his classroom? He turned quickly, but instead of an escape, he was met with a warm, full chest.

"Hey! What are you doing!" The girl screamed in a high pitch and pushed him away. With his bottom now against the cold, hard, floor, he cringed when he heard the next few words: "Ew! Gross! The dirty four-eyes touched me!" Kagome, the rich queen and most popular (and annoying) person in his classroom accused. She wiped her body, as if Inuyasha possessed contagious germs and diseases of all varieties, and ran towards the president, whose attention was now fully at the two by the door.

"Sesshomaru-sama! You have to help me! Make him apologize to me!" cried the woman as she wrapped his arms around the president's. Inuyasha, now over his initial alarm, quickly got up and bowed to the two while avoiding everyone's suspicious, glaring eyes.

"I'm sorry, Higurashi-sama. Please forgive me for my blunder." He tried, holding back his anger. Glasses were really too convenient, because had anyone seen past them, they'd know how much he wanted to punch the girl's face right now. As an extra measure, he kept his bent-over position.

"No way! This is sexual harassment, how disgusting, ugh!" She charged, tightening her grip on the third year's sleeve, effectively crumpling it beyond repair.

With a roll of his eyes in the direction of the floor that went by overlooked, Inuyasha replied, "That is a simple misunderstanding, Higurashi-sama. I had no intention of…"

"Are you calling me a liar? I'll sue you!" She spat out. And that was it.

Inuyasha shifted quickly, placing his palms on his hips and scoffed.

"With all due respect, Higurashi-sama, I possess nothing of great value as you've already blatantly pointed out. So I don't think it'd be very sensible or beneficial to take any legal actions against me. I guarantee you'll gain nothing but a load of wasted time, money and a certain level of embarrassment." He calmly countered, but soon regretted it when the woman came up to him and slapped him across his face. How dare you, she cried.

With the force, his glasses hit the board harshly and reached the unforgiving ground with a small crack. The panicked Inuyasha fell to retrieve his glasses. In those few seconds, he was vulnerable, with a classroom full of predators. Despite the damage, he placed his specs back on and stood to leave. However, a hand was swiftly at his wrist, twisting him and forcing him to turn around. As he was still in the progress of rotating, his glasses were once again taken off of his face.

And there he stood, glaring into the eyes of his assailant, Sesshomaru, the lousy fucker, like a vicious baby deer in headlights. But within moments, the anger faded and back was the fear.

"L-let go!" He cried as he looked away and squinted. His other arm went up to pull at the harsh grip. But his denial only upsetted Sesshomaru. In those few seconds of revelation, he had been the only one to see Inuyasha's eyes. His blue eyes. The taller man placed the glasses next to chalk before clutching the younger boy's jaw line and fiercely forced his face back his way.

"Look at me." Inuyasha ignored him and struggled without the full help of his vision.

"I said look at me!" Sesshomaru icily commanded, also effectively silencing everyone in the room. He needed to see the proof again. The tension rose and Kagome felt the need to intervene, believing the president, her self-proclaimed-potential-boyfriend, was acting in her defense.

"I-it's enough, Sesshomaru-sama. I'll forgive him…" She tried to coo, touching his back. But Sesshomaru immediately responded with a sideways glare.

"This has nothing to do with you." And back his attention went to the boy. "Open your eyes." He again insisted. Inuyasha only bit his lip, hesitating to do what he was told. But the look in Sesshomaru's eyes that he could vaguely see through the blurry slit of his trembling eyelids exerted a pressure of undecipherable intensity.

"Stop it…" Inuyasha gulped.

The third year brought their faces closer and whispered, "I'll block you from everyone else. Now show me your eyes." And as he positioned them in a way that carried out his promise, the anxious Inuyasha grudgingly and slowly tugged his eyelids open.

They silently gazed at each other, as if in their own little world of absolutely blissful nothings. Inuyasha blinked. Sesshomaru stared. Inuyasha quivered. Sesshomaru studied. Inuyasha growled. Sesshomaru smirked. Finally, the older man pet the younger's head down, allowing their eye contact to break and handed the glasses by the board back to their rightful owner. He turned to the curious, pensive crowd, who were all too eager for a satisfying explanation.

"I apologize for the disturbance, everyone." He flashed a deceptive smile. "Kagome, I hope you'll forgive me. You see, I was looking for this boy here," a nod towards Inuyasha, "as I was instructed to pass on a very important message to him by the principal." An obvious lie. But Sesshomaru still spotted a few more wary eyes. So he added, "It was concerning his scholarship." And all doubts were cast away; some of his classmates even sniggered, and Inuyasha clenched his fists before walking to his desk, grabbing his belongings, and leaving the premises.

A fairly easy task, when everyone's attention was on the only important character there: the stupid student council president, who, without Inuyasha's acknowledgement, was also the only character whose own attention was solely and fully on him.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews, faves, and alerts, guys. :) Hope you don't mind; I'm going to start answering some of the questions I get about this story. Don't want my readers to be confused, lol. Some are questions from me.

**Jhoi Marie Boli**: Yes, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are not brothers in this story. XD

**Dashllee**: Ohh, a prank? What did you have in mind? :)

**Inumimi1**: Thank you for your lovely reviews! Um, the reason why Inuyasha's disguising himself will be revealed soon, haha. It's a bit of a childish reason, but to Inuyasha, it's enough to make him decide this particular path of secrecy.

**SLYSWN:** Sesshomaru's a pretty sneaky bastard, nothing new lol! Let's just say his continuous winning streak is about to end very soon, because he's no longer the only smart guy on the block anymore. :) AND JUST WAIT FOR IT. Kagome bashing in the near future lol!

**Syron:** Hi! Thank you very much for your compliment, I'm glad you enjoy my story! :) Inuyasha's eyes are really shimmering golden, like they should be, but he wears blue contacts as another feature of his disguise. This is explained in chapter 3. As for the shade of blue, I'm imagining something like this: i. imgur. com H5aTl. p ng (remove spaces and put a forward slash after the dot com) (more like the butterfly I added in lol) Ignore the messy sketch, I was focusing on the eyes. OTL

**jewel131415:** Oops, you caught me lol! It can be interpreted that way, haha.

**CHAPTER 4: JUST WONDERING… IS THERE A NICER WAY TO SAY 'BACK THE FUCK OFF, YOU ARROGANT PRICK'?**

Absently grabbing a tissue from the box next to his bed, he blew into it. Damnit, why does that sound like elephant sex every time? Ugh. Inuyasha hadn't been this sick in ages. Can't sing either. Fucking hell. It just HAD to start raining shortly after he left the school yesterday and the bus just HAD to get a flat tire before he reached home. Note to self, always bring an umbrella next time. And kick the ass of every superior being up there whenever he gets there.

Forget about coming home completely drenched, he didn't even get any sleep last night because of what happened. Hours and hours… spent on coming up with excuses and reasons for his, what he would imagine, surprising, behaviour. And he still had nothing that didn't sound ridiculous or would make others believe he belonged in a mental asylum. Sighing, Inuyasha again began his daily ritual for the start of the day. With a few coughs and sneezes reluctantly included. He honestly didn't want to go to school. But there was a test today, the last one before second semester and that couldn't be missed.

A few more hours later, he was back on school property. In full disguise AND an umbrella. Oh yeah.

He ran past the gates, hoping he wouldn't be late. He didn't want to deal with his classmates, so he thought it'd be a good idea to arrive a minute before class began, but it didn't go quite as he had planned. His perfect attendance was hanging loosely on the line now, hopefully clinging to life. So Inuyasha ran, ran like a crazy dog with his tail between in legs, completely unaware of the amused eyes that were on him from way above. Fortunately, he made it to homeroom with a few seconds to spare. However, the glares and tsk's he received from the scorning occupants were way more intense than he had imagined. And it was at this very moment that he realized…

That he was no longer that quiet, invisible nerd in the farthest corner of the classroom. He was never going to be seen that way ever again.

Because he had messed with the queen. And in front of her king, no less.

Now he knew. Knew foolish he had been.

And this was going to be a big problem.

The disclosure was much too severe for his mind and suddenly, Inuyasha was thankful for the test today. For it meant he could avoid trouble for at least a few more hours. He spent a complete hour thinking his thoughts through and calming down his wrecked nerves. The feeling was so strange, so foreign. This awkward but understandably shy feeling of fear, creeping up on him as if pulling a desolate, contemptuous prank. But it was certainly no humorous joke. It was an emotion that, Inuyasha bitterly acknowledged, demanded inclusive capitulation.

The last 15 minutes were used to skim through the questions in the 6-paged-doublesided English test and scribbling down all the correct answers in flawless cursive. The second it was over, Inuyasha got up from his seat and tried to sneak out with the already parting teacher. It was now or never, after all.

But of course, things were never that easy.

One of girls, who Inuyasha recognized as a devote follower of the queen, leeched onto his arm and successfully stole away his freedom. So close, yet so far away. All these depressing feelings today were seriously mentally wearing him out. Shit.

But despite everything, there was no way he would ever hit a girl. He had his morals and it didn't matter what kind of dangerous situations he faced, he would always keep to them. He did, however, have a very compelling feeling that the girl was going to make it VERY difficult.

"You! Where do you think you're going?" Sango yelled fiercely, forcing him to take a few steps back.

"Uhm. Please let me go, there… there's something I must attend to." Inuyasha debated, pulling out a very credible expression to neutralize his lousy lie.

"Hell no, you scum! You better beg Kagome for forgiveness, for what you did yesterday." Oh right. She was the one with the attitude and spunk in the queen's clique. Inuyasha brows furrowed, already knowing what that would entail.

He tried to pull her hand away, but was instead, given a punch to the side by Sango's apparent boyfriend. He grunted as his ribs crashed with the metal edge of the blackboard, leaving behind a chalky mark on his dark uniform. He immediately grabbed for the spot, coughing and wincing. There'd surely be a bruise there tomorrow. Through the one opened eye, he glared at his attacker. But he was obviously completely unfazed.

Ah… the glasses were still there. Right.

"Don't touch her with your dirty hands." The man frowned and pulled the girl towards his chest.

"Move over, Miroku, I need a piece of this shit!" Kouga growled with his fist in his palm, fully prepared to brawl. Of course he needed to vent. From what Inuyasha had heard, he had a major crush on Kagome and was a stubborn ass to boot. The latter detail had made him consider their potential friendship, but the former killed any and all drops of the fading promise. There was no way he could get along with anyone who followed rich snobs.

He grabbed Inuyasha by the collar and shoved him in the queen's direction. And Inuyasha let him. He was seriously in no condition to fight right now. As he slammed into a few desks and was brought to his knees, his slightly cracked glasses, which could take no more turbulence, fell to the all-too-familiar ground again. Like Romeo and Juliet, the two inanimate items seemed to be star-crossed.

To the singer's dismay, Kouga's feet got to the treasured spectacles faster than he did. Inuyasha looked down at the leftovers in shock and felt his anger surface again. They had no idea how much it cost for a pair of glasses. Fake or not. Especially so since the lens were fucking thick.

Just. Fuck.

But you know what's worse? There was no way he could act on his emotions right now. Not like yesterday. No, he couldn't make it worse than it is now. Biting the inside of his lower lip, Inuyasha silently grabbed for the shards of glass, ignoring the cheers, threats, and scoffs all around and above him. He could do nothing but hang his head low, letting his bangs do most of the work the remains underneath his hands would never have the chance to do ever again.

"Apologize, shithead. Right now. I ain' t joking around." Kouga repeated, as he grinded the hard soles of his shoes against Inuyasha's hands. The singer instantly cried out in pain, his reflexes determining that he was unable to retract his delicate fingers from under the full weight of the cruel man.

As the sharp debris dug and cut his skin, Inuyasha thought of the piano. The piano that always inspired him to sing, that had been the only thing that never betrayed him.

Without his voice, he had wanted to at least be able to play the instrument. Music was an absolute must in his life. Especially at times of great stress like now. But with his limited resources, the only things he could develop were his larynx and flexible fingers. He needed his hands. The ones that were currently bleeding and being crushed under substantial weight.

"Stop it!" Inuyasha hissed, trying his best not to sound like he was about to kill. It didn't work very well, as the rough pull of his hair proved. He closed his eyes in quick response; his features convoluted. And as he felt the hateful words against his cheek, he knew he had to keep them closed.

"Do it. Or do you want me to break a few of your bones first? Hm?"

Fucking asshole.

"I-I get it. I'm sorry. I was wrong." Though his hands were finally spared from any more abuse, Inuyasha couldn't really say the same for his hair as the strands were pulled towards Kagome's feet. Although his view was limitedly allowed only the expensive pair of high-heels fit for the most elaborate celebrities, he was somehow sure that the queen had been all smiles throughout this whole ordeal.

Bitch.

"How dare a nothing like you, embarrass me in front of Sesshomaru-sama! Unbelievable." She huffed and spat out with pure disgust.

"I didn't mean to, Higurashi-sama. So please, let's just forget it." Inuyasha pleaded hoarsely, with his hands in fists. His head was already spinning and as stars began to creep their way in from around the corners of his eyes, he felt the drops of sweat form on his temple. This isn't good. He needed rest. He needed medicine.

He needed to leave.

"Kouga, make him regret he ever defied me!" Kagome commanded, angry that despite the position he was in, Inuyasha was still evidently in control of the conversation. Just who was this kid? The loser needed to be taught who the boss is, she thought.

"Sure thing." Kouga responded with a wicked laugh as he pulled at Inuyasha's uniform from the back, forcing him away from the queen and into the nearby desks behind. The impact allowed one desk to fall onto the victim's leg and Inuyasha hissed at the sudden ache from his lower extremities.

Kouga bent to lift it away, only to throw an accelerated punch to the head of the boy underneath. Then several ruthless kicks, as he urged the others to join. They complied without hesitation, as Inuyasha felt what seemed like a thousand limbs, strike him in every direction possible.

In his incoherent state of mind, Inuyasha could only protect his throbbing head while grunting and coughing with all his respiratory system had to offer. The dust traveling into his drying pharynx only worsened his reaction.

"S-stop…" He tried desperately, already feeling feint. Shit. Of all days, why did he have to be sick? Another groan emitted from his lips when the sharp tip of someone's shoe contacted the joint of his head and neck. But even through the dizziness, the dirt in his mouth, and the traitorous hair on his tongue, he could hear the exhilarated laughs from Kagome's poisonous lips. And so it continued, until the queen signaled the start of the next class.

The beating lasted a mere 10 minutes, but Inuyasha had never felt so much physical pain in all his life. Probably because it was also the first time he couldn't defend or protect himself properly. Though he considered regretting taking the queen on yesterday, he knew she deserved so much more. If only.

But man, she really was a very unlikable person! …Just like everybody in this fucking school.

Shit, ugh.

Should he happy that they at least they had the decency to… literally throw him out of the room before the teacher arrived? ...Yeah right.

Inuyasha leaned as closely as he could to the walls as he waded through the hallway, as if trudging in the most unforgiving waters. He hoped to all the Gods he could make it to the infirmary before he passed out and before anyone spotted him.

But then again, he rarely ever got what he wanted.

"What are you doing?"

Damnit. The only time he actually wanted to be proven wrong!

As the overbearing foot steps neared behind him, Inuyasha tensed.

"Nothing," he insisted, attempting to hide his panic, "I'm just feeling a little under the weather. More importantly, you should get back to class." He had to remind himself that his glasses were currently out of commission and more than anything, he was sick and tired of appearing before the president without a complete disguise. It was not something he was used to, nor was it something he could forgive himself for allowing. No way in hell was he going to let the streak continue.

Oh but his adversary, Sesshomaru, was no pushover; not at all. He was a very dangerous man, on so many levels that it wasn't even funny anymore. Every brain cell in Inuyasha's head right now was alerting him to stay away from this person, because if any suspicions arose right now, Inuyasha knew he wouldn't be able to get away with it without at least a little bit of trouble. No, he could not deal with the king when he couldn't even think… or walk properly for that matter.

Why must the annoying bastard always catch him in his most vulnerable moments?

The timing was ridiculously horrible!

"What about you? You sound sick." Said bastard inquired. If he was worried, he sure didn't sound like it, Inuyasha mentally sneered.

"I'm…" A shake of his head to get rid of the dizziness before continuing, "I'm going to the infirmary." When there was no further response, Inuyasha assumed Sesshomaru had gone and so continued to walk. Or at least tried to. What really happened was he tripped like a loser and fell—into the arms of the nosy person who wasn't supposed to be there anymore.

What the shit. But dear god, Sesshomaru smelled incredible. Spicy and alluring, manly but comforting—the scent of reinvigorating sicilian lemon and coffee absolute, of delicious ceylon cardamom tea and natural china cedar coupled with a hint of amber. A single waft left Inuyasha sighing and relaxing into the older man's touch like an ultimately tamed kitten, but his circumstances did not allow him to grasp this grave mistake. A mistake that would make its way into Sesshomaru's heart and live in there indefinitely and perpetually.

"Ah, so… good." Inuyasha mumbled into the strong chest with overwhelming fatigue. The older man felt the warm, tingly breathe dancing across his skin, through his thin shirt, and believed the sensual stir to be better than the comfort from the richest silk and cashmere.

"What is?" Sesshomaru asked teasingly, holding the boy closer.

"You."

A smile crept onto his lips at the simple but unwavering reply. It was not often that he allowed anyone to get so close to him, but looking at the situation, it was he who could do more damage to the boy in arms and not the other way around. Moments later, after Inuyasha performed another involuntary inhale of pure, delicious masculinity, Sesshomaru noticed the boy had amazingly fallen asleep. Well, that was unexpected.

He'd forgive the boy today, since he was, after all, sick.

As the second year mumbled adorable nothings in his arms, Sesshomaru examined his physical condition. The rare upward curl of his lips was short-lived. He had not overlooked the scratches and traces of blood on the hand that had, moments ago, clung to the walls like a lifeline. He hadn't liked the boy's irregular posture earlier either. And his back. The one he saw today looked nothing like the formidable back he had seen that night at the karaoke room.

And it was annoying, to say to the least.

When break began, Sesshomaru had wanted to seek the boy out to learn his name,… but really more for the prospect of entertaining himself. Who would have thought there was such an interesting character in this school?

Now, you must understand… he paid very little attention to the second years, even though he was expected otherwise. Sure, that kind of attitude is normal for most kids, but the thing is… his family owned the entire institute. In every aspect, including the property and as such, he was expected to know about it more than anyone else. However, the second years were the only group of kids he had not wanted to keep tabs on.

Why? Because of an aggravating little girl that the entire student population has apparently dubbed the 'queen' for God knows what reason. And Sesshomaru needed no 'queen'. It was rather incommodious, for he could not outright ignore her because of her status as daughter of one of his father's closest, wealthiest friends. Had she been anyone else, he would have made her willingly and happily commit suicide. He had quite a way with people, after all.

And right now, he was positive the girl was the one to blame for the boy's wounds. During the brief journey to the infirmary, sleeping beauty had moaned distress in his arms several times; even at the tiniest shift. Every tender whine peaked Sesshomaru's anger and soon, he found himself surprisingly worried for the kid. So strange.

Surely it was a worry similar to one that would be directed at one's favourite toy when it faced potential damage?

When he finished wrapping the blanket around and over the boy's cold, shivering body, Sesshomaru headed towards the boy's classroom to pick up his belongings. The other reason for this course of action was to… hm, politely interrogate the boy's classmates. Yes.

His intentions would have stayed as intentions, however, if he had arrived any later than he had. There, on a desk by the window, stood a boy with a triumphant face and his arm clutched a familiar black tote bag. Sesshomaru interrupted before he could throw it down a height of 3 stories.

"Hand me that bag." He breathed out imperially. At the commanding tone, every person turned his way partially in silence and partially in awe. Yes, that includes even the teacher, who he nodded to to keep silent. The first to talk just had to be the annoying brat.

"Oh my! Sesshomaru-sama! I-I was just telling Kouga to stop this ridiculous behaviour!" Masking her surprise with counterfeit innocence, she instructed of her classmate, "Stop it, Kouga! That's not a nice thing to do." And then she finished the deed with a bright smile towards her would-be boyfriend. A perfect act. Anyone else would have gotten played by her game, but Sesshomaru was not just anyone.

As his eyes narrowed in repugnance at the perpetrators, the room grew disturbingly cold. Only a few nervous shuffles here and there and the song of nature's flyers beyond the glass were heard. Sesshomaru found those gulping down their visible anxiety to be particularity miserable.

"I said hand me the bag." He repeated.

"O-oh, of course!" Kagome gestured for Kouga to do as he was told, which he did, of course. It didn't matter how much he hated Sesshomaru for stealing his woman, he was THE fucking Sesshomaru. Completely self-explanatory.

"Sesshomaru-sama…"

"Yes?" He dared the girl to continue.

"I… Why are you so interested in the bag? If you want a bag, I could always buy you a nicer one, I mean, that one's just so dirty…" She tried for a date. But seriously, at a time like this? What was she thinking?

Ignoring her advances, Sesshomaru asked, "Who does this bag belong to?"

Kagome hastily replied, "It doesn't belong to anyone important. Anyway, how about this Saturday…"

"Who," he articulated with more emphasis, "does this belong to?"

Kagome blinked away in confusion and Sesshomaru thought her to be the slowest person in the entire school. Luckily, her friends weren't all that stupid.

"His name is Inuyasha, the four-eyes that molested Kagome yesterday." Kouga tried to explain without his usual rebellious tone.

"I see." Sesshomaru replied rather apathetically and nodded towards the instructor, "Excuse me for the sudden interruption." As the professor flaunted his modesty fretfully, the student council president made his way back to the infirmary. Kagome's dying whines went in one ear and out the over because honestly, he couldn't care less.

An hour later, Inuyasha groggily woke up to someone pinching his nose, effectively blocking his air passage. Which is like, you know, a pretty important thing to a guy.

Springing from the bed while thinking what the fuck, he coughed and pawed at his abruptly itchy nose.

"What are you doing!" He carelessly yelled at the person who was quite possibly trying to suffocate him.

"Hm. You lasted much longer than I predicted." Sesshomaru smirked in conclusion to his experiment as he crossed his arms and rested a leg over the other. But it was the way he laid ever so calmly and superiorly back in his lousy ass chair that pissed the second year more than anything.

"The hell… Are you trying to kill me?" Inuyasha threw his pillow at the obnoxious president, who easily dodged, caught, and retaliated without a moment's hesitation. But alas, the singer's reflexes were no where close to the level to that of his president's.

"I was simply decreasing the risk of harm to your retina." Sesshomaru stated as Inuyasha met with a mouthful of fluff with a cute 'umph'. It was times like these that gravity was one's best friend as the item fell to the boy's lap without any applied effort.

"My reti… Oh shit." Then the memories of the events that occurred only a while ago came rushing back to him, but much too quickly for his taste. "My glasses..." He gasped. Let's see, the last time he visited the bank... "…ugh, I can't believe this. Now what?" He lamented in an absurdly lonely manner while covering his face with his palms in exasperated grief. Setting aside the pitiful matter of his forever dwindling savings, he realized there was another problem at hand now. "Wait…" Inuyasha gasped and shot his head to his left to stare wide-eyes at the appearing-way-too-fucking-many-times-lately-and-can't-seem-to-mind-his-own-business, super nosy third year once again.

"Is there a problem?"

"Y-You… Arghhhh!" Thoroughly disappointed in himself for always letting down his guard around the annoying elder, Inuyasha brought his temple hard against the mattress over and over again in utter frustration. Why him? Why was it only and always him? Of all people…!

"Must you do that?" Sesshomaru sighed. "You're really not an easy person to understand."

At this, Inuyasha shot him with the deadliest glare he could muster. Fuck being a model student. The asshole should have figured out his secret now, so no point in hiding. But his inferiority was rather apparent when even the full capacity of his resentment he managed to muster in his glower did nothing to scare Sesshomaru off. He didn't even twitch. Seriously, what is this?

"Freakin' statue." Inuyasha mumbled under his breath with his face away from said statue.

Something told him he was fighting a losing battle.

"That's. My. Fucking. Line." He finally huffed out at the senior, his glare back on. "Is there something you need from me or do you have another explanation as to why you keep popping up wherever I go?"

"…"

"Stop staring at me and just spit it out already!"

"You're that singer." Three simple words, yet they were the cause of the sudden paleness of Inuyasha's face, his slightly bulging sclera, the slow clenching of his fist, and the rueful trembling of his lower lip.

Fearing his traitorous eyes would give him away, he looked away. Sesshomaru knew one of his secrets. He could handle that. He wasn't supposed to know more.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He pleaded inconspicuously.

"I'm listening." Sesshomaru declared nonchalantly, referring to the song Inuyasha had sung that day. He watched, amused, as the second year in vain denial grew increasingly tense with every word coming out of his own mouth.

What an interesting boy.

"And I'm saying…!" Inuyasha was pierced with a golden gaze that seemed to see through every lying fiber of his body. See. This man was dangerous. He was right from the very start. "That I don't know anything! Just leave me alone!"

Sesshomaru took a moment to switch his crossed legs, a generous amount of time for Inuyasha to hopefully regain enough calm and coherence to consider the mighty king's next few words.

"I'll keep your secrets. On the condition that you continue to entertain me and obey my every request. Under my name, I can even guarantee you protection and a freedom limited only to me."

Ah, the scowl on Inuyasha's face was really something.

"You may decline, of course… in which case, I hope you'll be fully prepared to face the consequences."


	5. Chapter 5

Hmm… I think the story will be ending soon. A few more chapters left maybe? I had wanted to add in an 'in school residence' arc, but I don't know. You guys decide lol.

PS. I am now adopting a '10 reviews per update' rule. So for every 10 new reviews, I will upload a new chapter.

Enjoy chapter 5!

**CHAPTER 5: HEAVEN IS TO EARTH AS OIL IS TO WATER AS THE PAUPER IS TO THE PRINCE AS INUYASHA IS TO SESSHOMARU… YOU GET THE POINT**

"Oh come on! Just this once!" Inuyasha begged to the boy on the other end of the phone line.

"I'm runnin' low on funds myself, Inuyasha! You know I'd like nothing more than to give you a discount, but I really can't this time."

"Please, Shippo! For old times' sake! You really need to help me out here!"

"Why don't you just come back? At least, while you're with us, you'll have no need for any disguises."

"…"

"Your fans miss you, even though they're hella confused. And honestly, I can't stand some of the artists I have to work with these days. They treat their make-up artists like a disposable prop." Inuyasha chuckled at that, but Shippo knew better. The singer was frowning, but not at how he was being treated, but because he was missing what he had in the past.

"I'm sure you're fine." Shippo scoffed. Inuyasha could be so dense sometimes.

"But you're not."

"I am." Inuyasha insisted without delay.

"How can you be when you're not singing?"

Having to hide his voice everywhere he went was not only mentally and emotionally wearing, but it also went against everything Inuyasha loved. So how could he deny what was completely true?

He couldn't.

So he decided on another approach: "There's no point in going back. I'm sure everyone's forgotten about me. Not like I was around for long anyway."

"You're crazy. Do you have any idea how many people asked for you after that one time? There's even a fan club and everything, all looking out for the mysterious singer!"

"What the fuck? I only broadcasted once!"

"Just goes to show how talented you are. You're a singer, Inuyasha. That's never going to change. And the old team might be mad at you, but like your fans, they haven't forgotten."

"They're better off without me."

"You're the only one left to take off. Remember our promise? We may be scattered all over now, doing our own thing, but we keep in touch. And we're unanimous on one thing. The moment you come back, we'll quit and reassemble." The determined, serious tone was uncharacteristic of Shippo and that's what scared Inuyasha. His boys were serious. They would support him if he ever returned. But he knew he didn't deserve them; he had no right to go back, no right to interfere with their lives now.

Not after bailing on them.

Ignoring the sharp pegs clawing and embedding themselves into his heart to the best of his ability, Inuyasha tried to change the subject, "I'll transfer the money to your account. It hasn't changed, right?"

Not again, Shippo screamed in his head. For the umpteenth time, he had failed to convince his friend to return, failed to find the reason behind his pointless fears, failed to repay him for all that he had done for him. Dejected, the boy replied, "…It's okay, I'll just send the glasses over."

Inuyasha knew Shippo was upset. Whenever they talked about this sore subject, the calls would always end with his friend pouting and sulking and himself, guilty and depressed.

…Stupid Kagome, stupid Sesshomaru! Had those assholes just left him alone, he wouldn't even have had to turn to Shippo for help. Every component of his disguises had a different source and the one that supplied his glasses had just happened to go on vacation. What the fuck is up with all these lame-as coincidences? Seriously.

Sighing again, Inuyasha asserted, "Naw, I'll pay. Sorry for all this shit."

"I'm not forgiving you just yet, hmph!" Inuyasha could just hear the kid crossing his arms right now and sticking his nose up in the air in defiance.

"Alright, alright." The singer held his hands up in defense. Not that anyone could actually see him, but no doubt, Shippo knew. "Oh, by the way, I'll need you to send them to me at my apartment. I'll text you the address later."

"Apartment? I thought you lived in residence? That's the only reason why I didn't ask to visit!"

"Ah… they were doing some construction and renovations; I was forced to live off-campus for a while." He sweat dropped.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THIS WHY?"

Crap. "Sorry, kid. I've just been under a lot of stress."

"AND you're sick! Screw it, I'll personally deliver the specs! We need to do some serious catching up anyway." Seeing it extremely unwise to refuse Shippo at this point of time, Inuyasha grudgingly approved. He did owe a lot to the kid. The second year apologized once more before the two said their goodbyes with a promise to hang out over the upcoming weekend.

Today was a Friday. Which meant that if Inuyasha could get through today, he'd be free for at least two more days. Two precious days to figure out what the hell he was going to do.

Fuck, everything was so crazy right now and he honestly wanted nothing more than to run away from it all. But he had promised himself never to succumb to cowardice ever again. That one time was enough. He'd just have to deal with that pompous jerk. Yup, just kick the ass of the guy at the top and then surely, no one else below would dare mess with him. No big. But how?

Che.

Inuyasha hadn't planned for anyone to find out his secrets. He was confident of his conning abilities and believed he could easily handle any small mishaps with his quick, cunning wit. He had studied human behaviour, their subtle but ingenuous body movements and facial expressions, and made sure none of his personas looked like the type to lie. And he didn't mean to brag but he was a damn good actor.

So how had Sesshomaru figured it out?

He was positive Sesshomaru didn't see his face or his uniform that time in the karaoke room. There was no doubt that he had given nothing away. In that case, someone must have told him something to rouse his god forsaken curiosity and judging by how deep of a shithole Inuyasha's in right now… that little piece of information must have been just enough for him to conduct a few tests of which the results of had somehow led Sesshomaru to him.

Thinking back, the only possible traitor was the woman at the counter. She was the only one he had let his guard down around and one, he had seen his uniform; two, she had seen what he had been carrying with him. At the time, he had stupidly thought that there was no way she could do any harm to him since there was no way she'd know anyone from the academy.

So okay, he'd be the worst fortune teller in history of forever if he ever tried.

But even then, it shouldn't have been enough to single him out of the entire school! After all, out of what he carried, the items that had been visible to the woman were rather generic; anyone could have owned them. Then there was Sesshomaru personally… The only things he had seen were his true eye colour and his beanie, which he hadn't revealed for a second time.

Inuyasha leaned his forehead against the mirror in his washroom and closed his eyes.

If he wanted to win this, he needed to know everything Sesshomaru knew. So that he could refute every single fucking detail, of course. Yesterday's events were simply warnings that told Inuyasha one thing: If he let Sesshomaru catch him off guard again, he'd lose. One time was enough. Cast one more doubt and like starving vultures on rotting flesh, Inuyasha'll be jumped and devoured.

That's why he needed to be one step ahead. Or two steps. Maybe three. He's going up against a king, after all.

He had three days to come up with a perfect strategy to deal with Sesshomaru. With that reminder, Inuyasha bore his disguise, minus the glasses, and packed up his things as quickly as he could. He still needed to cover his eyes, but the only thing that sufficed was a pair of fashion glasses Shippo had once used to try to appeal to him. (Obviously, the boy had failed.) Inuyasha preferred not to use it since it attracted attention, but it was better than nothing. Frankly, he'd be more noticeable without anything on his face. Throwing it in his tote bag, popping a pill into his mouth and grabbing the keys on the table, he quickly made his way to the bus stop.

The sardonic morning sun was painfully bright but Inuyasha's mood was anything but. The boy propped himself on the bench and pulled out his MP3, letting it do its thing as he struggled to breathe in the taste of newborn dew through slightly congested nasals. How it tasted so much sweeter back then, when he had a goal he truly wanted to accomplish; a goal he could die for and friends that had supported him.

Inuyasha had been an orphan, with his mother dying from a strange illness when he had been 6. But he was a smart kid and used the life savings and insurance money he inherited to get by with only the bare necessities. Then he successfully made it into junior high. Despite being forced to play multiple roles because of those missing in his life and perfecting the art of duping at a very young age, he was happy.

In a way, his dishonest life was complicated but in a bigger, even more important way, it was simple. Do well in school, simply because it was the better choice that presented more opportunities and less hassle. Survive, simply because the words defeat and self-pity had no place in his dictionary. Be happy, simply because he owed it to his late mother and had a duty to finish what she couldn't get done in her short, but not unfortunate lifetime.

So then came along a goal—a dream. He wanted to sing. Armed with nothing but his voice and a captivating passion, he felt like a one man army taking on the world. He had even made friends like him in junior high, friends that supported him and dreamed big like him. Shippo had been among that small group.

Back then, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Finally, in their last year in junior high, they made a breakthrough.

Their school hadn't been all that famous or big at first; it was instead, rather ordinary and just like any other public institution lacking certain benefits. But in that hunk of dying concrete was a true genius, the pride of the otherwise small and overlooked establishment. And that genius had managed, through 3 years of hard work during his stay there, to spread the name of the school and ascertain its now sought-after reputation.

One of his biggest accomplishments was the founding of the music department, which was what it was now famous for. And the genius, by the name of Inuyasha, had managed to catch the interest of several media and music moguls, who had either sent themselves or their scouts to the school during his final year's public talent show.

It was there and then that Inuyasha's vocal talents was discovered and coveted. One certain company had won his and his crew's favour and the executives had promised to officially sign him for long-term if he had one successful broadcast.

And an outstanding broadcast he had!

One song over the radio and everything had immediately gone viral; many talent agents searched high and low for the identity of the mystery singer. With such promise, the small company instantly proceeded to contract Inuyasha. When the singer had hesitated, they even went as far as to officially hire and contract the rest of his crew, including Shippo, who had an amazing gift for the art of make-up.

But no one knew what had happened then to make Inuyasha hesitate. While humans bask in bliss, they also fail to notice the unspeakable threats laying the shadows. An enemy had latched onto Inuyasha and held in his calloused, vindictive hands, everything he and his crew believed in.

In the end, the main character of the whole dilemma flatly rejected the contract offer and disappeared. While his petite crew found success after junior high, which Inuyasha's disappearance had guaranteed, he himself took the only other path he could take: high school, by utilizing the only other gift he had: a crapload of smarts.

But where had that choice taken him?

Certainly nowhere near his last term to a simple life; he had failed his mother. He wasn't happy.

He was sick and not getting any better, stressed beyond belief with enemies from all sides, and experienced the dark oblivion known as loneliness every single day. Perhaps he should just leave the countr—

Honk, honk. Inuyasha jumped from his seat as he felt his heartbeat meet the roadrunner. His hand immediately covered his mouth, as if that would soften the pain he initiated from biting his own tongue. What the fuck!

"Is daydreaming a hobby of yours, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked from his seat inside the limo as he lowered his one-way window.

One second.

Inuyasha blinked.

Two seconds.

Sesshomaru raised one eyebrow.

Three seconds.

Four.

"You affho!" Inuyasha pointed with his other hand as he got up from his seat.

"Excuse me?"

Correcting his blunder by removing his hand from his mouth, Inuyasha growled (properly), "What are you doing here?"

"To pick you up. Isn't it obvious?" Sesshomaru deadpanned.

Inuyasha frowned. "What are you talking about? I take the bus."

"If you watched the news, you'd know that the bus service around this area has been cancelled until further notice due to nearby construction." Sesshomaru opened the door on his side and gestured for Inuyasha to get in.

So that's why there was no one else around! "I don't have a TV, you jerk. And I was taught to never follow strangers, especially the ones that look up your freakin' address just to bring over a fancy limo. So no thanks, I'll walk to the next available bus stop." Inuyasha huffed and went on his way.

Sesshomaru's limo followed at Inuyasha's pace so that the opened door remained right where it was relative to the second year student. An impressive feat, Inuyasha would admit, if it wasn't annoying the hell out of him.

"Then let me ask, Inuyasha, do you own a watch?"

"Obviously." His eyes rolled. "And would you stop talking to me?"

"Right. And what time is it now?"

"What the hell, can't you figure that out yourself?" He hissed.

"What time?"

"Oh damn it all," Inuyasha grunted as he brought his watch to eye-level, "It's… Oh fuck!"

"Good answer." Sesshomaru replied as he stepped out of the car, took a step, and pulled the momentarily defenseless Inuyasha into his car and onto his lap belly-first, all in a matter of 2 seconds. It was only when the president opened his mouth to instruct his chauffer to hurry and drive that Inuyasha escaped his daze and returned to a devastating reality.

"Kidnapper!" He half shouted, half coughed in his awkward position, for lack of a better response. What he earned was a rather loud slap to his bottom to which he yelped like a squeaky little, prepubescent girl.

"Benefactor, you ungrateful brat." What a view, Sesshomaru reflected as he stared at the pale, smooth skin before him. Because of his earlier effort, Inuyasha's shirt had ridden up against his body, revealing the stunning small of his back. So pale and clear was the singer that the soft shadow caused by the dip of his spine seemed much too enticing than it should.

Suddenly Sesshomaru felt compelled to taste the flesh, but settled for licking his own dry lips instead. The slight trembling of the lithe waist he noticed was confirmed by the tingly vibrations he sensed on his thighs and the fluttery pink of Inuyasha's ears. But all of this was nothing compared to the stimulation caused by what the minor falling of Inuyasha's loose-fitting pants unveiled: about one third of the bottom he had just punished and watched jiggle ever so slightly in his lap.

The king sighed, attempting to calm his pulsing. If something as trivial as this was enough to give rise to such inconceivably sensual emotions, then Sesshomaru would have a rather… big problem (in more ways than one) in his hands.

Now more than ever, Sesshomaru needed this stubborn fool to admit his defeat and obey him.

When Inuyasha attempted to sit up, Sesshomaru's hands swiftly flew down to hold him there; an action that occurred even before his head got itself involved. Did he miss his coffee this morning?

"Stay still." He commanded, annoyed.

"Screw you! What benefactor! You're just laughing at me!" Inuyasha struggled, despite the fact that he was hurting himself more than gaining any progress.

"You'd be late for school otherwise." Sesshomaru reminded. "And stop that, you look like a waddling turtle." He tsk'ed when he heard his chauffer choke on his own spit. Well, it wasn't every day that he heard his young master say… waddling… turtle.

Oh dear God.

"Then let me up, damnit! I'm… I'm really uncomfortable in this position." Inuyasha finished as he buried his scowl into the seat in embarrassment.

Sesshomaru smiled. "We're gaining speed to get to the academy on time and unfortunately, there are a lot of turns in this area. You'll only get hurt if you get up now." When the defeated Inuyasha growled loudly into the chair, Sesshomaru proceeded to gently pet the boy. He was half upset and half happily disturbed to find not only that the strands were softer than his own, but that he also enjoyed touching the boy in more places than one.

"Now I'm sure someone up there hates me," Inuyasha sighed, exasperated, and moved to rest his chin on his now crossed arms. "And stop messing up my hair." Sesshomaru complied after a few more strokes. After all, there were more important things at hand.

"Inuyasha."

The second year blew upwards at his bangs to try to stop them from torpedo'ing his eyes any further, but to Sesshomaru, it seemed like an act of rebelliousness. "What do you want now?"

"Have you thought about my offer?" Instantly, Inuyasha tensed. Because Sesshomaru had been so attentive, he'd dare say the boy had stopped breathing all together. He lasted for a few more seconds in this state before he responded, but the edgy ambiance between the two men seemed to be perpetual until further notice.

"Like I said, I had and have no idea what you're implying."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is." Inuyasha huffed out. The nerve!

"So you wouldn't mind if I loosen my lips?" Shitty bastard.

"I don't care, you'd only be lying." The boy looked away then. Their eyes hadn't been in contact, but Inuyasha had felt the president staring. At least now, his expressions couldn't be easily calculated. Unfortunately, this was the only thing he could do after realizing that he hadn't had such an easy time lying to Sesshomaru than he had with anyone else.

Which troubled him to no end, but hey, what could he do? Considering his poor performances so far, at least that much was a (greatly hated) fact.

"Words often do not require truth for them to be believed." Sesshomaru stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "Though we both know very well what is true and what is false." At this, Inuyasha whipped his head around to face Sesshomaru with an all too familiar death glare.

"Oh, I sure do. The truth, you impossible fuck, is that your empty threats are only giving me reason to feel pity for your complete idiocy." He hissed with enough venom to kill two hippos.

Sesshomaru seemed to remain calm and expressionless, as he looked intently into those eyes burning a fire passionate enough to be on a level of their very own and rivaling only hell's. After collecting as much information as he could from those fragile eyes, he turned away and looked out the window instead, while crossing his arms regally.

Disregarding the boy's disrespectful words, others would have been sad from what the president had observed deep inside those eyes, behind Inuyasha's unconvincing façade. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, had to hold back a snort.

He was laughing at the boy's expense and he really couldn't help it.

"Then I suppose I'll have to flaunt my so called idiocy in front of the entire school in today's public council conference before I can truly learn my lesson."

"You—" But Sesshomaru was determined now.

"Get out of my vehicle, we've arrived." No ifs, no buts, no maybes. He was going to spill the beans.

Today.

All the colour drained from Inuyasha's face.

Because there was nothing one could do to stop an angry king.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello! Thanks for all the reviews guys! I'd like to answer some questions and also clear up some misunderstandings here in this chapter's A/N. Though it might get long, so if you'd rather tl;dr, feel free to! :)

First of all, to the **unknown person who has decided to stop reading this story** because I am greedy and selfish (though you probably won't see this since you've left, but this is also directed to the rest of my readers):

First, I'm actually a pretty laid-back person so I don't really count anything as flames, especially since what you said makes sense from your perspective. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But there are some things I feel I must correct you on, since I'm also entitled to my own opinion and think I know myself better than you do.

I'd like to first apologize to you or anyone else, if I turned your readers' button off by implanting that 10 reviews per chapter rule. Your assumption that reviews are the simple reason I write stories couldn't be more inaccurate. I write because there are things out there that I'd like to see get written but aren't (what's up with the number of AU Inuyasha stories out there?), because it's a nice stress reliever (and believe me, I really need it for what's going on IRL), because I want to let a part of myself free (I enjoyed discovering how introspective this hobby of mine could be), and because my crazy imagination just needs an extra punching bag sometimes. So please don't say such things when you don't me well enough to do such a thing.

I also know that not all readers are going to review, I sure don't do that for every story I read. But the number I chose is honestly based on the reviews I've been getting so far per chapter; I didn't really think too hard on that. I just started uploading on fanfiction again and haven't written too much to discern how much, I believe you're implying, is considered a non-selfish, non-greedy amount of reviews. So I'm sorry for that. I have now apologized to you for the two things you were upset about. I apologized because it is my fault that I am simply a very blunt person, that I do not like to talk very much unless absolutely necessary and that I am slightly socially awkward at times, that I can't explain / express myself properly and thus made several of my readers misunderstand and/or confused.

I believe that as an author, it is the greatest honour for them to receive a review. Their motivation and excitement thrives on the readers' response. But as much as I appreciate my two-word reviews, I was also looking for longer critiques, suggestions, opinions, etc. My intention was simply to **encourage **this and hope people would respond. Truthfully, the only reason I implanted this 10 reviews per chapter thing was because I can feel that this story has a lot of hm… shall we say missing components? Call it writers' intuition? I don't really know. I'm also still learning to _write. _In any case, I obviously didn't choose the right way to express my intentions clearly. I'm sorry for any misunderstandings and I will remove that rule.

My readers, just act on your faith because that's all I can ask. But just let me say thank you for reassuring me that my joy in story-writing and -reading is shared. And to the person who's no longer reading this story or anyone else that have expressed their extreme dislikes about this rule, I appreciated your reviews much more than you might think so thank you for that and another final thank you for reading up until now; it was nice while it lasted. :)

**Dashllee**: lol yes, that's exactly what it means! Trying to move this story along and arrive at somewhere more exciting. I feel bad for Inuyasha, too, but I love writing Sesshomaru's dialogue; it's hilarious!

**Fireotaku18**: Exactly what I was trying to do. :) I wanted to try a very devious, cold Sesshomaru this time around. Glad you're liking it!

**ajj7sunhawk**: Yes, I'm going to enjoy that challenge. XD

**SLYSWN**: LOL I'll be honest, I knew I wanted Shippo in the story but I had NO IDEA how to write him as. I'm just glad he's not as annoying? And don't worry about the limo scene, haha. I included a special treat in this chapter just for you! (Well… the cute parts, not the angsty parts... unless you like them…?)

**Alrye**: BAW, how cute is that?

**Animemimirue8:** both theories are wrong, but that's beside the point. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED SOME ADVICE ON IMPLANTING THAT RULE LOL? And can I say how much I enjoyed reading your review! At first, I didn't want to write too much detail in this story because I had someone tell me how deep my story telling can get… so I thought I'd make this one light hearted and easy. Oh, but I do fully intend to expand on Inuyasha's past later on, to lead to a sudden climax before the ending. Actually, you think similar to me; all the points you suggested are ones I've already decided to include, except for the characters who were in a group with him, and how they're doing currently. O_O Should I do some more thinking? LOL anyway, thanks again!

**Disclaimer**: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING. )8

**WARNING!**: **A FUCKLOAD OF ANGST. THEN AN ALMOST RAPE SCENE. THEN AN ALMOST SEX SCENE. OH, AND THERE'S A BIT OF STUPID FLUFF STUCK IN THERE SOMEWHERE TOO. **And someone please tell me whether I should add in the residence arc or not! I'm fine either way, but I don't know if any of you guys want it. It'll just be a few extra chapters detailing a ton of lame-o smut in the dormitories between our two main characters, lol.

Ok, that's all, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**CHAPTER 6: UTTER DEFEAT HAS NEVER TASTED SO DAMN SWEET**

One hour, his traitorous watch confirmed. That's how long Inuyasha had to stop Sesshomaru from exposing him. He was now sitting in a hidden spot of green underneath the biggest willow tree on campus. Since it was surrounded by other smaller trees, he knew he wouldn't be found so easily. But honestly, fuck his attendance. At this point, it'd be _stupid_ to worry over something so trivial. He was too busy being on the verge of figuring out a way to achieve the near impossible right now.

…Okay, fine. The truth was, he had absolutely NOTHING. Well, nothing he liked anyway.

Inuyasha pulled at his sweat and nature ridden hair, terror no longer a good enough word to describe his current mental state. No matter how hard he tried, the only method he could come up with was to forfeit…_everything_ to Sesshomaru. Like, seriously. If he accepted his offer (oh lord, shivers running down his spine!), there was no doubt in his right mind that his president would be curious about his counterfeit life, his reasons for hiding, his true self, and so many more secrets he was absolutely unwilling to surrender. And the guy was far too capable of an enemy! Sesshomaru has pretty much gotten everything he wanted out of Inuyasha so far, so that tidbit was, resentfully, a reality.

"I knew it! I fucking knew he was trouble and I just… just let it happen!" He whined helplessly at only the escaping time as he battled the surrounding cold air. So cold was the wind's single breath that Inuyasha hadn't even noticed the goose bumps coming. Perhaps it was just the result of his adrenaline, but everything suddenly felt so… so numb. The previously short-lived struggle, though a completely worthless waste of energy, had at least managed to calm him down. Somewhat.

…Enough to think logically at least. And logic was calling him a fucking loser.

Inuyasha stretched out one final time with a sulky huff and sprawled out on the grass, allowing himself to regain his sensations. Several seconds into his studying of the strange outlines of the vast sky, (a moment appropriately considered the calm before the storm), a visiting butterfly landed on his lips. As if possessing the intellectual capacity to discern his heart's worries, the butterfly flapped his wings gently in soothing.

The general public would have been disgusted to see a butterfly so up close but Inuyasha had always been a lover of nature. Perhaps it was because nature was such a pure and true thing, never a liar, never a traitor and so very unlike himself. It was something he hoped but could never be. Ah… no, not perhaps. Certainly, that was reason. After all, treating the innocent nature like his best friend was the only thing the lonesome Inuyasha could do to redeem himself; to atone for his cowardice and for the never-ending lies.

Inuyasha giggled heartily as the butterfly's kind wings tickled his nose. He had tried his best to stay still, not wanting to scare the flyer off as he was unbelievably grateful for the temporary moment of tranquility, but ultimately, it was of no use, and as it fled, Inuyasha lifted his chin slowly and thanked it with a chaste kiss.

"Are you as lonely as I am, I wonder?" Inuyasha smiled. "Or are you on your way to greet your friend? Sorry, little one, for hindering your journey. But don't worry. I'm alright now."

He pushed to lift himself up, saw teasing stars, and then realized the one hour had flown by much too fast. A curse here and there was spat as he ran as fast as he could to the auditorium. Thank God he was close! But he still reached the entrance doors 2 minutes late. Crap.

He stood outside, breathing heavily and took a moment to steady himself before opening the grand doors. When his shaky hands, now far from numb, touched the mocking cold steel of the handle, he stopped.

Holy shit. This was it. Okay, just do it Inuyasha, just fucking do it. You're a man!

You'll lose the battle, only to win the war!

And forward he trekked.

There were two things in the scene before him that immediately stood out. First off, why the fuck were there so many students? In most public conferences, full attendance was mandatory, but that didn't mean all the idiotic walking moneybags in this school abided. Mainly because it was way too easy to skip it; he knew this first hand (but don't tell anyone), but also because 25 percent of the male student body hated the president for infatuating 90 percent of the female's. So what the hell? Secondly, why was Sesshomaru walking towards the podium? Student council announcements were usually always left till the end.

Wait a minute. Did he miss something? Was today an important day or something?

"Good afternoon, fellow students and staff members. Thank you for attending today's public conference, the last of this semester. The recently completed renovations of several of our existing student residences and our calendar for the upcoming semester are the main topics of discussion for today. The reopening of the residences will take place next week, on the first day of the second semester, in which a special schedule without educational classes will be implanted.

If you are aware of your advanced reservation within any of the residences, please pick up your individual informational package at the student council building, second floor, room 201, after this meeting." Sesshomaru paused to look at his crowd, making sure everyone understood. When he spotted the disheveled Inuyasha with his slanted fashion glasses on (which actually looked quite attractive on his heart-shaped face), he smirked.

The president continued his address, "If you run into any problems or have any further questions, feel free to ask any one of our council members." He gestured to his colleagues sitting directly behind him. "Now, before I turn your attention to our principal for important matters regarding changes in the curriculum and calendar for the upcoming semester, I'd like to make a final announcement to the student body."

Inuyasha eyes widened. Oh dear God, he needed to move his legs! Right now! Please, limbs, work! He needed to get to the president!

But his body was being a bitch and didn't want to listen.

All he managed to do was shake his head much too slowly at the man holding his very freedom in the palm of his hands. As the corners of the president's lips tugged upwards slightly, Inuyasha's heartbeat quickened to a dangerous rate. Why wasn't anyone stopping him? Why didn't anyone SEE?

Ah, that's right. He had no friends here. And only the hypersensitive (due to adrenaline) Inuyasha could distinguish the mischievousness behind those blaring, daring eyes now glaring back at him, just daring him to do something about it.

The president is an asshole.

But he is an asshole that can get away with anything and everything.

…A total one against the world kind of thing right now.

"Please…" Inuyasha's trembling whisper was unheard to the excited crowd awaiting their president's special declaration. Despite his best efforts, he only managed one step forward. Yes, lame, but could you really blame him?

Sesshomaru shook his head in response, thoroughly disappointed at Inuyasha's fragility in the face of such danger, and continued, "I've recently made a shocking discovery about a certain student of ours, a second year, to be specific. And I feel that, as your student council president, this discovery must be shared with all of you." Quiet conservations immediately erupted in the audience and all but one knowledgeable silver-haired beauty came to the conclusion that the second year their king was referring to was his 'queen'.

"You see, this one presumptuous student has been lying to our entire esteemed community." Sesshomaru explained and immediately saw Kagome tense. Ha! The girl was afraid, believing her act had been seen through and about to be broadcast to the entire school. But no, the world did not revolve around her. "He did this in many ways but one such way is by hiding a talent, one so unexpected of such a… quiet… second… year…"

Sesshomaru's lips clenched tightly then, as his eyes widened significantly. Significantly for him anyways.

Inuyasha. He was crying.

Each precious tear that ran down those flushed cheeks caused Sesshomaru to dig his nails deeper and harder into his palm. The king was no longer smirking, no longer talking, simply staring with the most intense eyes at a single point in the sea of students.

The other students who had been listening seemed to notice and followed their president's eyes to the lucky individual. Inuyasha, however, was already too far in his own world, a blurry world he saw through damp pupils. Everything seemed so familiar, yet he was simply unwilling to recognize it. Why did his face feel wetter than usual? Had it been raining earlier? Inuyasha blinked a few times, wincing as his eyes stung in such an unusual way. His eyelids gradually rose as it dawned to him.

No way.

Slowly he brought his shaky hands up his face, suddenly too scared of the truth. One succeeded in removing his glasses, earning loud, distant gasps on the way, but what he saw on the finger tips of the other broke his heart.

_Tears. _The only thing in the world that had any right whatsoever, to call him a coward.

Inuyasha turned back and ran, his glasses now in pieces on the floor. Further and further away he ran from the fanatical, partially confused and angry, partly surprised and keen crowd of it-no-longer-matters. His speed was not to be matched and it was only until 8 hours later, on the dark streets of the most dangerous part of town, that he realized, _he really was a coward._

The rain poured down on him harder, as if the Gods were punishing him for everything that he was. Inuyasha darted into an empty alleyway and threw himself down to the hard ground.

A grunt. Then another. A convoluted face of agony. And then…

"Why?" His piercing howl coincidently harmonized with the thunders and lightning. He pounded and bled against the asphalt beneath him in a desperate need for relief. Relief that he could never find alone.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A deep voice called out rather loudly, followed by a hiccup.

"What's a pretty little girl like yourself doing out here?" Another intoxicated voice snickered.

Inuyasha ignored them until a rough hand grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up. The two idiots, clearly wasted, glared at him. "Hasn't your mother ever told you not to disrespect your elders, little lady?" The blonde haired gruff growled.

"Che." Inuyasha scoffed sideways and rolled his ways, as if he had nothing to lose anymore. "Fucking drunkards."

The other man with dark bangs was apparently not happy with the accusation. "What'd you say, brat?" Before he could get his fists to connect with Inuyasha's body, the taller blonde held up his hand, effectively stopping him. So he was the leader after all.

"Dun worry," Hiccup, "the pussy's just playing with us. I think," Hiccup. "it's our turn to play now." He laughed.

"Get your fucking hands off of me!" Inuyasha scratched and clawed at the hand that held his feet off the ground, splattering fresh blood from his hands all over. When the black haired man clutched both his arms from behind and held them there with his own tight grip, Inuyasha knew he was going to get it. He fought as hard as could, with his remaining limbs, but it was no use. The bastards were drunk, but they were far from weak.

Fuck.

But he didn't want to call for help.

He didn't want to prove once again, that he was a coward.

"Stop it, you assholes! Stop!" He screamed, or rather, gurgled as he mildly drowned from the rainwater draining into his mouth. Upset by his capture's defiance hindering his plans, the blonde backhanded Inuyasha. When the first hit proved ineffective, he grabbed a fistful of hair, twisted his face back, and gave him another, harder slap. The cycle repeated a few more times, each impact heavier than the last, until Inuyasha could no longer command his jaw to move again.

Then the torture really began.

When the two finally realized that he was, in fact, not a woman, but a man, they were beyond disappointed. Irate, inebriated, and sexually aroused did not make a very friendly combo. The blonde nearly broke his legs in his anger, as he repeatedly punched at the only limbs that wouldn't give his criminal partner more work. Once he was satisfied with the amount of damage he had inflicted on the once beautiful youth, he moved on to the most sensitive, and to him, the most useless, parts.

He iron-gripped the boy's limp private and pulled it as hard he could, blaring inappropriate, derogatory terms along the way as his accomplice bit into the same victim's delectable neck. Inuyasha screamed and hissed in anguish, endless tears falling like heavy metal and blood as brilliant as the most passionate red saying their final goodbyes, promising to never to return again.

The scornful blonde was pleased with his prey's response and gave a couple of more tugs, enjoying the youngling's flexible, curving reflexes in attempts to dull the pain. Their work was almost done; there was still one matter they needed to accomplish, or rather, release. The two offenders sneered in mutual understanding as they glanced, through cold eyes, at each other.

The raven haired man threw the exhausted Inuyasha to his bleeding knees and pulled his head back, once again losing strands of stunning, wet hair. With his other hand, he opened his mouth, gaining a soft groan of pain from the boy. They _would _finish before he lost conscious! As the leader worked on his pants, however, a bullet of a gun was shot into the air a few metres away. Everything froze as the criminals looked from their now unconscious toy to the entrance of the alley. Even in their intoxicated state, they knew who their new opponent was.

"Get the hell away from him." Their faces spoke of alarm, of fear and of confusion. "Now!"

Because why the hell would the heir of the most powerful family in the city, be interested in one seemingly insignificant boy?

It was the first time Sesshomaru had ever seen anyone cry in their sleep.

Inuyasha looked like the most fragile sheet of gold leaf; even the warm, comforting blanket covering him right now seemed entirely capable of harming him beyond repair, and yet, simultaneously, he has never looked so strong to Sesshomaru, having survived an unspeakable ordeal and possessing the marks of triumph-over-death that would heal over time to prove it.

He was fucking beautiful, Sesshomaru realized. _So fucking beautiful._

Tear dampened fingers dared to touch the baby soft skin and in contrast to the coldness of his own, Inuyasha's pale cheek was unexpectedly warm. Sesshomaru, for the first time that night, smiled a genuine smile, for that really was all he could ask for.

Inuyasha's eyes fluttered then, a moan also escaping his throat. When dazzling azure met with golden again, the moment was forever engrained in both their hearts.

Inuyasha was the first to break the silence as he failed miserably to sit up properly but made up for it by successfully grabbing Sesshomaru's arm, despite his injured hands.

"D-don't!" He tried to yell but all that escaped his lips was a hoarse whisper.

"You're safe now, relax." The president assured.

"N-no!" Inuyasha shook his head to emphasize, causing weak vertigo. "Don't tell them about me. Please. I'll accept your offer."

"You don't need to worry abou—"

"I won't disappoint you!" He insisted, tightening his grip and pulling Sesshomaru slightly towards himself. "Are you not interested in me anymore?" Sesshomaru frowned, his anger starting to rise. One of the things he hated most was others not listening to him.

"Listen to me, boy, I—" He warned. Obviously, an incoherent Inuyasha is not an Inuyasha that listens.

"Fuck! Then what the hell do you want from me?"

That was it.

"Shut your mouth, you annoying whelp!" Sesshomaru slapped the hand away and stood up, toppling over the highly elaborate, expensive, hand-cut chair. "If you want me to comply so much, then let's see you naked and begging me to take you like a dog!"

Inuyasha's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. It was quite extraordinary and Sesshomaru didn't know whether he should be mad at himself for such a rare outburst, or laugh at the second year's comical expression. The boy, having the sole ability to effortlessly bring out all sorts of complicated and unforeseen feelings from within him, was on the verge of driving him mad. But what he did next was by far, the most extraordinary thing that Sesshomaru had seen in his lifetime.

He wore not the face of defeat or of anger, of worry or of sadness, but of understanding and determination, as he slowly revealed himself from under the bedspread. Inuyasha nimbly began stripping off the layers of clothing that seemed to cling to his body at all the right places to maximally flaunt his curves. It seemed so lewd and wrong, yet so right and innocent.

Really, what an enigma, Sesshomaru chuckled mentally. He wanted to correct myself after his uncalled-for eruption but the boy was really making it hard for him to do so.

When Inuyasha was sure he was completely naked and visible, he tried to make his way closer to Sesshomaru but his feet didn't allow him. Or rather, they couldn't. They were far too damaged and bruised for use and Inuyasha could only hiss in pain and fall flat on his face with his butt up high. Yet, that didn't stop him. With one hand he pushed his upper body back up and then looked up at the president staring attentively back down at him. His other hand pulled at Sesshomaru's sleeve gently, for he no longer had any more strength to spare. 

"I beg you," he whispered with a soft voice oozing of discomfiture, "please take me, Sesshomaru."

The one who he just blindly seduced, however, could only stare in wonder, slightly flabbergasted although his features would never give him away. Inuyasha, in his current condition and embarrassment, obviously took this reaction the wrong way.

"Look, I'm sorry okay?" He looked away and licked his lips, wincing again at the pain, and put off biting his lips despite the great temptation. His hold on Sesshomaru stayed as firm as ever, if not more, now that he was blushing like a madman—not because he was bashful, but because a _man _his age without any sexual experience was rather, well, _unmanly_. "I… I don't know how to do this kind of thing. And I know all these bruises and stuff are gross, but I can't really get rid of them faster. I can't move very freely right now either, which might be inconvenient but I…"

"Inuyasha—" Sesshomaru tried to interject, but Inuyasha simply raised his voice.

"But I mean! I-I'm not trying to disappoint you! Really!" He panicked rather unnecessarily. "Fuck, I don't know. Why did you have to ask for this shit from me anyways! I'm a _man_ for God's sake—Ah!" He yelped as he was pushed back against the softest pillows he had ever felt. Inuyasha had only 5 seconds to wonder if perhaps that was not actually the case, that perhaps it was only the result of an increased sensitivity due to his sudden nakedness.

Either way, he would like to try sleeping naked again on another day, just for curiosity's sake.

A/N: Cliffhanger because I suck.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry guys, school's been busy. Any updates in the future will depend on my poll, which can be found in my profile. Please vote on it if you have the time.

**CHAPTER 7: WHEN WINNING ALSO MEANS LOSING**

Cold hands scanned across his bruised chest, occasionally stopping here and there at what Inuyasha thought to be very awkward places, to rub in a much too sensual way. As the skilled, cool fingers slid down his slim torso, Inuyasha felt himself involuntarily gulp in strange apprehension. God he felt like a girl. But that _was_ his current role, wasn't it? He couldn't help but wonder if he had been in his right mind when tingling, playful shivers ran down his bare spine. A small seed of a doubt planted itself in his more than slightly confused mind and he soon became too scared to close his eyes—he just couldn't. Considering he was in the presence of a better, it would not be wise.

"You seem nervous. Should we stop?" The all-knowing, too-perceptive-for-his-own-good, pain-in-the-ass asked, with a deeper tone than Inuyasha recognized. Yeah okay fine, he was nervous. Shut up.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was getting too affected by this. Inuyasha really wished he could calm his panicked heart, maybe kick some sense into it. If he had to choose between it and his brain right now, he'd choose the latter. At least it knew a thing or two about necessary sacrifices.

"No." The younger man flatly replied, biting the inside of his lower lip to force the willies away. He _will_ do this, he _will__not_ back down. "And I ain't nervous." He lied, but hey, the other man didn't need to know. "I just don't know what to do. I've never done this before." That part was true though. He frowned, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than he already was.

"Would you prefer I give you instructions?" Sesshomaru mused while hovering over the boy on all fours. "You do want to make this enjoyable for me, don't you?" He provoked huskily as he casually flicked a soft, rosy nipple. Inuyasha held his breathe at the unexpected contact but didn't try to move away.

Oh fuck, his inner mind cried. What do people _do_ in these situations? Inuyasha panicked, despite himself. It was as if Sesshomaru could tell exactly when he finally managed to calm himself down, just to throw something even more nerve-wrecking his way to screw with him! Beads of sweat began to surface on his pale temple. You see, he could deal with women, no problem. But men? Fuck that shit, where did you expect him to find that kind of information?

Yes, that's right. Inuyasha had absolutely _no__idea_ how to pleasure a man. And Sesshomaru was the man of all men. 'Dear Life', Inuyasha mentally sighed, 'when I asked if my life could get any worse, it was a _rhetorical_ question. Not a challenge.'

But despite his incompetence in that area, Inuyasha knew at least one thing. It was all about dick when it came to men. He would know. So of course his next course of action was to reach out and fondle the bigger man's privates. Well. He had to do _something_ right?

Sesshomaru flinched, surprised by the boy's sudden boldness.

"Can I touch you here? I mean, that's what I'm supposed to do right?" Inuyasha sounded uncertain and worried. He didn't want to disappoint the man that could potentially make his life a living hell. Well, a hell worse than that one he lived in now.

When Sesshomaru only grunted and let his head fall, Inuyasha continued his rough massage, hoping the man was properly being stimulated through all those useless layers of clothing. He tried to imagine the times he masturbated and how he himself liked to be touched, letting the images guide his ministrations. When a groan of pleasure escaped the big man's lips, Inuyasha practically glowed in happiness. Maybe he could _actually_ do this!

"Do you feel good?" He asked with excitement clearly laced in his voice. But this seemed to snap the older man out of his lust and suddenly, Sesshomaru's grip was on his busy hand and his mouth on Inuyasha's neck, biting and nipping and licking. _God,__the__boy__tasted__good_. Inuyasha gasped as the shift in position happened all too quick and instinctively started to squirm into the sheets.

"W-wait! What are yo—!" He breathed out under the full weight of Sesshomaru.

"Are you afraid, boy? Of what heinous crimes I might inflict on you?" snarled Sesshomaru, completely aware of what his actions, words, and very presence was doing to the young man sprawled on his bed.

"No! Jesus, stop getting so full of yourself!" Inuyasha barked, not appreciating the mockery.

"Am I?" Sesshomaru teased while he began crudely biting the salty skin between his lips. He was pleased when he gained an almost inaudible whimper from the younger man.

"Stop, this—this isn't right!" Inuyasha cried, trying to push the other man off of him. At this, Sesshomaru snarled and angrily shoved the boy into the bed.

"How dar—"

"I'm the one that's supposed to make you feel good!" Inuyasha finally huffed out between quickened breathes. Sesshomaru froze.

"T-that's what you wanted right? I mean…like…" Surely, he didn't think… "I'm starting to feel good, I think, but that's not right. This is about you but I…" Dear Lord, he did. "I don't know what to do beyond touching your, um." Besides being thoroughly embarrassed, the boy actually looked frustrated with his 'failure'. And that's when Sesshomaru lost it. He laughed.

At the confused pout on Inuyasha face, he laughed harder and proceeded to wrap his arms around the boy's body and bury his face in the grove of his neck, all the while indulging himself in his musk.

"What? What are you laughing at?" When he received only more chuckling, Inuyasha sulked. "You're so fucking weird." He huffed, looking away and subsequently exposing more of his neck to the very amused Sesshomaru.

"You're the stranger one, boy."

"Hey!" Inuyasha yelped, not enjoying getting repeatedly insulted.

Sesshomaru simply raised himself back up. "Alright, so you want to make me feel good, do you?" He smiled at the irritated boy underneath him.

"Shut up, I'm reconsidering that." Inuyasha grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away. Here he was, trying to be all serious about this and the stupid guy had the nerve to laugh at him! Who the bloody hell does that anyway!

Sesshomaru raised a brow. "Are you sure?"

Inuyasha winced. Fuck, he forgot he wasn't the boss right now. He was the one who had something to lose. He uncrossed his arms and relaxed, locking his eyes back on Sesshomaru again, daring him to give him a command.

"Spread your legs for me." The older hummed, staring, anticipating. The boy brows furrowed, but he complied. His elbows pushed down on the mattress as he attempted to sit up in preparation to bare all his worth. Next came his bruised legs but he found himself beginning to tremble in his efforts, his battered muscles aching from the earlier skirmish. Inuyasha ignored the agony as best he could, making pleasing Sesshomaru his current top priority.

Seeing the internal struggle, Sesshomaru was touched by the boy's determination and courage. He trailed comforting patterns down the boy's baby soft skin until he reached Inuyasha's pelvis, whereupon his trembling increased two-fold. Sesshomaru would be lying if he said he didn't find this remotely amusing and the unbearable tightness of his pants demanded him to continue the foreplay, but no. This was not the right time. Any further and he would hurt the boy beyond regrets. Besides the physical injuries, there was also Inuyasha's emotional and mental health to possibly worry about.

It was times like these he quite liked having men who could afford to kill under him. Disposing the two drunkards earlier may have proved to have been a bit more difficult otherwise.

Sesshomaru sighed and petted the boy's velvety hair, causing Inuyasha to stare at him like he was crazy. Yes, crazy enough to dismiss his sensual and considerate exertions, practically insane to let go of such a delicious meal. He signed again.

"Alright, let's stop for today." For today.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Inuyasha was bewildered. What the hell was going on in the president's head now?

"I mean what I said." He replied calmly and stood up, off the bed.

"But I haven't…" His eyes widened. "Oh shit, did I do something wrong?" He flustered unnecessarily, replaying everything that just happened in his head to pick out his mistake. Then it dawned to him. "S-sorry, my legs, they're—"

Sesshomaru offered another pat to the head, "Don't misunderstand, you haven't disappointed me at all." before pulling the covers over Inuyasha's naked body. "Get some rest, I'll wake you up in the morning."

Inuyasha frowned at the escaping back, unsure of what to do now that he's suddenly being left all alone. He had expected, had _prepared_ to be with Sesshomaru for the entire night. He thought that was the least he needed to do for his secret to be safe. He didn't really miss him, per se, and he sure wasn't being a sappy, lonely girl or anything, but there was a strange feeling in his chest that he couldn't quite describe. He found himself gripping the soft sheets underneath him, no longer finding them as comfortable as before. As if the solemn click of the door was the cue, Inuyasha felt his body getting heavier and heavier. His eyelids became too taxing to lift and upon realizing just how dry his lips were, he licked them until he was satisfied and fell back onto the bed with a poof.

In his fetal position, he found himself hating the feeling of the sheets. Sleeping in the nude wasn't comfortable at all. He had no idea why he thought it was so nice earlier, but his back was _colder_ than he remembered. This was his final thought as darkness finally reached the deepest crevices of his conscious.

The next morning, Sesshomaru entered Inuyasha's room with the intention to wake him up and bring him breakfast but instead found it empty. This was strange, as it was merely 6AM in the morning and the injuries the boy sustained last night should have made it impossible for him to leave the colossal mansion alone, and unnoticed. What were even stranger were the dirty clothes still lying on the floor and the missing bed sheets. But when the chirping robins outside stopped their chattering, a faint snoring was heard.

Sesshomaru walked slowly towards the bed, unsure of what to find. As he walked closer, he noticed the white of the sheets and chuckled, a hypothesis for the missing boy already in his head. He went around the bed and lo and behold, there was Inuyasha, cocooned thickly inside the sheets, with only his temple and a few strands of his silvery hair visible. The school president chuckled, wondering how the boy managed to fall out of bed and still remain asleep. He was interesting indeed.

Placing the plate of food on the bed, he shook the oversized caterpillar until he groaned and met with the first morning light of the new day.

"Five more minutes... No wait, make that ten…" He mumbled as his head crawled sluggishly back into the protective blankets.

"Wake up Inuyasha, I've brought you breakfast. You can go back to sleep after you've eaten it." He didn't mind the boy sleeping—after all, he did need the rest—but Sesshomaru on the other hand would need to leave for school in half an hour and he didn't want anyone else seeing the bruised, naked boy while he was away.

They were in the family mansion despite Inuyasha's room being in a secluded wing within Sesshomaru's own separate compound. The place was really a collection of several mansions each loosely connected to each other and belonging to separate members of the family. Sesshomaru's was the second largest next to his parents, as the heir had been expected to learn independence much earlier than other children.

Normally, it would be respectful to give him advanced notice of any visits to his compound but there were still housekeepers, security, and servants around and he couldn't risk them finding a stranger in his territory. All hell would break loose and Inuyasha may not survive such an event. Literally. Frankly, the best situation was to have Inuyasha leave with him, but his injuries recommended otherwise.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha lazily asked, noticing the president's formal attire, then yawned, rubbing his eyes of fatigue. Ah, Sesshomaru didn't have the blazer or tie on.

"School. Now, come eat breakfast before I leave."

"I'm coming too." He stated as he stretched, revealing the sounds of cracking bone here and there. He had never missed a day of school in his entire life and he'd be damned if he broke that record today.

"You can continue to rest here, it's not a problem." He reassured.

"No way, I'm definitely coming. I can't risk losing my scholarship." Inuyasha explained as he ate away. Sesshomaru nodded then, pointing to the door that led to the washroom. When he finished breakfast, Inuyasha slowly slipped out of the warm covers, unashamed of baring all he was worth around another male—forgetting that Sesshomaru wasn't just any male—and stood up to walk to the bathroom. Or at least he tried to.

The injuries on his thighs didn't make it easy for him to walk. The first step was especially difficult and Inuyasha suddenly found himself in the arms of his senior. Upset that he was already embarrassed so early in the morning, he quickly regained his composure and urged Sesshomaru to release his hold. Before slipping into the bathroom, however, Inuyasha glanced back and mumbled something in the lines of, "Erm, thanks a lot for breakfast, and um, for everything else too. I'll be ready in ten."

Within 20 minutes, the two were in the car heading to the academy, with Inuyasha clothed in one of Sesshomaru's oversized school uniforms, minus the third year blazer.

"This is kind of bad." He frowned, looking down at what he was currently wearing.

"How so?"

"Ugh, I knew I should have worn my own uniform! _Why_ do I _listen_ to you?" He wailed. What ever happened to that 'never attract attention' policy of his? Where did his determination go? Ah, right. It was the idiot president's fault.

Inuyasha sighed. As irritated as he was, he knew it would be unwise to be disrespectful to Sesshomaru in the future,… and the guy _had_ saved his ass last night, and fed him, and provided him a bed, and clothes, and a shower and… Aw, fuck. Now he _really_ couldn't sass him up. It was as if things were reverting back to the beginning, when he tried to hide behind his persona of a boring, invisible nerd and had no one he could truly be himself around… Wait.

Persona. Disguise. Nerd. Glasses. "Motherfucker!" He yelled suddenly, surprising everyone in the car. Ignoring the momentary sway of the vehicle, he pulled at the roots of his hair and banged his forehead against the window of the car.

"Cease that behavior, Inuyasha." He didn't stop, obviously.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Sesshomaru, can I get off?" Maybe he could run home and grab another pair or something.

"If you wonder off now, we will be late for class. The uniform is not discrete, I agree, but that's no reason to…"

"No, no, my glasses, Sesshomaru! I don't have my glasses! Oh my god, I'm so screwed."

"There is no need for them."

"No need for them? Are you fucked in the head? Of course I need them, I've never been to school without them! I—" It was then that Sesshomaru's hand crawled behind his neck and rudely pulled his head towards his so that Inuyasha found himself looking straight into the president's golden irises.

And for only an instant, he felt fear.

Sesshomaru's penetrating gaze demanded two things: Shut up and listen.

"There is no need." He repeated again with emphasis, but then softened up to remind the boy, "You are now under my care, entailing you protection and freedom. Freedom to be you."

Inuyasha considered his words. "Oh…right. I guess you did say that." He smiled bitterly to himself.

Freedom to be himself. Hah, how wrong he was. How long had he yearned for such a thing? This wasn't freedom to be himself. It was freedom from _hiding_. But that meant _nothing_. Sure, he no longer needed to hide behind his persona, but Sesshomaru had taken its place. What was the point?

This was how things would always be. Nothing changed. Inuyasha would have given up everything to change. He had never hoped for something so much as he had last night, but who was he kidding? No matter what he did, what he sacrificed, what he denied… He would always be a coward.

Inuyasha was indiscreetly closing himself in again and this disturbed Sesshomaru greatly. He had never visually seen the transition before but having it happen in his presence was what irked him more than anything. But before he could interrogate the boy further, the driver announced their arrival to the academy and Inuyasha had quickly made himself scarce.

Likewise, moments later, Sesshomaru exited the car and entered the third year buildings, but try as he might, his thoughts never left Inuyasha and the lingering uneasiness inside his chest quickly grew into a storm. It was understandable then, that within minutes of the first break, Sesshomaru found himself already inside the second year building and heading towards Inuyasha's classroom.

What he didn't understand, however, was the scene in front of him when he entered the room.

He immediately noticed Inuyasha's trembling, virtually naked body curled in the corner of the room, his normally beautiful silver hair now messy and unrefined with a part of it vulgarly cut off with rusted scissors, his face bruised with a visible black eye and numerous bloody scratches, and _god_, his legs. His bruised and battered legs that had begun to heal this morning, but were now almost entirely covered in black and purple and all shades of blue.

Then finally, the _tears_. Or rather, the lack thereof. There was no evidence of tears _whatsoever_. Inuyasha was glaring fiercely into the guilty eyes of his ruthless attackers through the crack between his protectively raised arms and it was at this very moment… that Sesshomaru's heart broke.

A/N: Blargh. Again, please vote on the poll, and only if you want, leave me a review too. See ya.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Someone reviewed to say that my stories are sometimes hard to follow because the action jumps around a lot. I believe this is due to shifts in the mood of the story as it goes from detailing Inuyasha from an outsider's perspective to detailing Inuyasha's real inner struggle with what he wants to protect and what he wants for himself. I figured this would be a good time to explain Inuyasha's particular predicament. Hopefully I won't need to shift the ambiance of the story as much anymore. With that said, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

**CHAPTER 8: OFF IS THE GENERAL DIRECTION IN WHICH I WISH YOU WOULD FUCK, BUT SOMETHING TELLS ME IT AIN'T HAPPENING**

It was weird.

One minute you're going to class, thinking maybe you'll catch a break for once. Because even though you were a coward, you were _Sesshomaru__'__s_ coward. Then you get bitchslapped a million times over because once again, you were fucking wrong. But even when Kagome and her followers kicked the shitty teacher out of the room and began to blame all the world's troubles on him, even when the other second year classes rushed over to witness and participate in the lynching, and even when desks made of the highest quality wood came crashing down on him, even then… Inuyasha only thought of how his retaliation would only be detrimental to Sesshomaru's reputation.

It was only after Sesshomaru himself appeared and all the feeling in his legs were gone, that Inuyasha tried to desperately convince himself that the only reason he didn't kick the ass of every last asshole that hurt him was because he was protecting the future of his friends. Didn't really work though. Hm. Very weird behaviour, indeed.

His arms didn't lower themselves—his instincts wouldn't allow him to—but even from the small crack in between, Inuyasha could see how irate Sesshomaru was. Could see the sheer _fury_in those brilliant, cold, destructive eyes. It was frightening, but on a whole different level than what he was familiar with. A pang of loneliness hit him then and Inuyasha wanted nothing than to reach out and comfort the man he probably owed his life to. To calm him down, let him know everything's okay and that there was nothing to get upset over—no reason for him to leave him behind. To bring him _back_.

When Sesshomaru finally moved, another strange emotion erupted in him, but it did nothing but confuse him more. Indecisiveness on his part was even stranger. He didn't have much time to contemplate on the matter though, as Sesshomaru did something stupid again.

Should he be angry? Freaked out? Or maybe he should piss on his non-existent pants. What the fuck would you do if the bastard just abruptly decides to smash a goddamn hole in the classroom wall? Laughing his head off was another plausible alternative too, judging by the suddenly shocked faces of every witness in the classroom.

But in the end, Inuyasha chose to be angry.

After doing his utmost _not_ to shame him, the bastard had gone and done something so _unlike_ himself in front of nearly the entire the second year population. Inuyasha felt cheated. He wanted to kick Sesshomaru's nuts or something, because seriously, what the _fuck_.

When Sesshomaru, with evidently bloodthirsty eyes, made his way towards Kouga, who stood closest to him with a raised and ready chair, Inuyasha grew impatient. But strangely, it was only until Sesshomaru came close enough to be touched by a stretch of his limbs that Inuyasha finally let down his protective arms and broke the tense silence.

"Sempai," he casually beckoned like a soothing lullaby, and reached for the scattered pieces of the borrowed uniform. As he folded them on his bruised lap with utmost care, he continued calmly, "I'm sorry for dirtying your important uniform. I will wash it before returning it to you, so please don't be upset." He lifted his head slightly and smiled at every pair of eyes in the room, trying his best to will the pain and thus, the goddamn trembling, away. The bastard had better gotten that last part as clear as fucking day, Inuyasha mentally grumbled, though his composed expression remained intact.

Again, silence weighed heavily in the air as every soul slowly digested the implications behind his much too simple words. The sensible and intelligent few immediately understood and were shocked beyond comprehension while the others' naivety didn't allow them to interfere in matters they could not decipher. Sesshomaru though, would live up to his name and would always be the one to react first.

"It's fine." He replied with a subtle frown only noticeable by Inuyasha. He then walked over to the younger man, knelt down and slung his blazer—still warm from his body heat—over the one boy who deserved every ounce of his respect and more. Ignoring the apprehensive whispering and the confused stares, Sesshomaru picked Inuyasha up bridal style and casually strolled away, destination infirmary. Just look at all the fuck he gave.

It was time Inuyasha stood his ground and solved his problems. He was more important than them, Sesshomaru testified, and fuck if the world was against it, Sesshomaru _would_ stand there supporting him every step of the way.

※

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" Inuyasha yelled when Sesshomaru locked the door to the infirmary. "They were staring at you like this, like this I tell you!" He exaggerated (but not really) by pointing to his eyes which had voluntarily widened themselves to the size of obese watermelons.

"I was thinking about your safety." The safety he promised him and the safety he deserved. Sesshomaru simply replied as he searched for appropriate medications.

Inuyasha face reddened. "I can take care of myself, dickwad. I'm not a weakling."

"No, you are an idiot." Simple fact was simple.

"What?" Inuyasha exasperated.

Sesshomaru sighed through his nostrils. "Silence." He commanded, growing more displeased by the second. How could this boy truly not understand his own worth?

As the third-year began the treatments, he gave a few more orders. "You will listen and listen well." When Inuyasha tensed, Sesshomaru pushed. "I will treat your wounds and you will heal. Between the two, you will prepare to tell me what I need to hear."

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha rebuffed and hissed, as he felt a few of his cuts burn from contact with the disinfecting alcohol.

"You." He paused for only a moment. "Your past, your secrets, your fears. Everything." He specified with a solemn guise. "Absolutely everything. Are we clear?" He looked into Inuyasha's eyes then, his most persuasive and authoritative glare up and running, and very smoothly in fact, going by the up and down of Inuyasha's adam's apple.

"I…" Inuyasha looked away to steel himself to refuse. "I can't."

"You know very well that you must, Inuyasha." At the growl of his name, Inuyasha winced. Damn him. When the bastard got like that, there was no refusing him. But he just didn't understand, the intelligent part of Inuyasha argued. He didn't understand the utter power that one simple word potentially held, nor did he know how just one word could spell the end for his friends—his very _family_—the people that dared to love him after his mother passed away.

He promised not to attract attention and it was better that way. Sesshomaru couldn't help. He couldn't.

"Don't underestimate my capabilities." The president suddenly voiced, as if reading Inuyasha like an open book. "Don't decide for me what I can and cannot do for you. Because I can do plenty."

Inuyasha brows furrowed in deep contemplation, as brain fought heart—as inner instinct battled diminishing hope. Should he really trust this man? He had no reason to. If nothing, Sesshomaru's position was even more dangerous to his cause. But. _But._

Inuyasha covered his eyes with the palms of his hands and allowed his face to convolute to the form most representative of his current internal struggles.

But he _needed_ someone he could trust. Someone he could safely give a piece of himself to. He hadn't had anyone like that since middle school and as much as he _hated_ acknowledging it, he wasn't okay with that. He was lonely. He _had_ been lonely, he finally realized.

This past week, Sesshomaru had occupied every moment and wasted corner of his mind. He couldn't quite believe it. The man had legitimately _forced_ the loneliness out of him. Inuyasha didn't like that the man could pull off something like that so unintentionally and so flawlessly, but he found it strange that he wasn't at all upset at _himself_ for allowing Sesshomaru to have such an effect on him. Then something else even more obvious came up to him and slapped him in the face.

Sesshomaru had already gained his trust.

He had begun trusting the lousy president the second the man saved him. No, wait… perhaps even before then. Perhaps it began the moment the man started paying _attention_.

"Shit. Just _shit_."

"Pardon me?" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. For once, he was clueless.

"It was always you." The younger man whispered and heard himself choke on the last word. All the strangeness he felt up until then dissipated, to be replaced with profound understanding and maybe a little something that felt like shame. That would certainly explain the heat on his face. But it didn't really matter anymore. The fog finally cleared and Inuyasha had been wrong. He _was_ okay now. He had Sesshomaru. And he would tell him everything.

※

Sesshomaru gently sat the boy down on the bed while the housekeeper hurried away to make some tea and light refreshments. He also progressed to remove his coat, which the servants hadn't been able to do with Inuyasha in his arms. All the while, Inuyasha steeled his nerves in preparation for the ultimate revealing. What could he say? What _should_ he say?

It had been so unbearingly simple—stay hidden, don't attract attention, stay _away_, protect _them_. But now that he's decided to stop running away and finally take a gander at his circumstances in their entirety, he found complicated too indulging of a word to really describe the nightmares he's had with him for the last couple of years.

Just two hours ago, he had made the decision to let the currently oblivious school president in; two hours ago, he thought this task daunting but relatively easy. He would open his mouth, send air through his lips and speak from experience. He was aware of his praiseworthy ability to articulate and communicate virtually any subject, no matter its complexity. He had helped in bringing enviable repute to his middle school, after all. Yet, at this moment, the mechanics of quantum physics were easier to explain than the turbulent emotions swirling around in the pits of his stomach.

_Stop_, he instructed his brain. Just stop _thinking_. For once, stop _scheming_ and simply offer what you can. Wasn't that how it always was with his friends? With those he trusted? He owed Sesshomaru at least that much.

"How much do you really know about me?" He asked with a near whisper when they were finally alone.

"If you're referring to your past, then only to the extent of a detailed background check." Sesshomaru answered truthfully, offering a cup of quality herbal tea to the boy. Inuyasha took it.

He breathed in the stirring aroma and took a moment to glance out the patio windows, passed the pool, the elegant outdoor furniture and at the most beautiful sunset he'd ever seen. As soon as the sun said goodnight, he promised. Five more minutes and one less entity witnessing his cowardice made all the difference. And Inuyasha had never been so sure in his entire life—that after today, he would never turn the stars away again.

How he had missed the truly simple things in life, he thought solemnly as his grateful eyes finally locked with Sesshomaru's.

And then he began.

He told him how he had pretty much been a loner up until middle school, after his mother died. He confessed he had lied, copiously in fact, and how he never could liberate his constant shield of deception. Somewhere between the humorous but elaborate schemes he effortlessly devised and the difficulty of forming any relationships, Inuyasha paused. As waves of nostalgia pounded heavily down on him, he smiled that rare, utterly brilliant smile that never failed to jerk Sesshomaru's otherwise nonexistent heartstrings.

Inuyasha knew he was talking too much. Too many irrelevant things, but irrelevant did not mean unnecessary. Quite the opposite, he momentarily mused, as the only thing capable of combatting the upcoming sadness was this small happiness. His lips tightened briefly before the core of his story began. The one about his friends and how they became his new family. How they would risk their everything for him and how he would doubtlessly do the same. But the most important thing, the one thing that held them all together, despite their very different backgrounds, was the intensity of their shared aspirations.

Inuyasha wanted to sing. This desire stemmed from his mother, who, in his opinion, had the most beautiful voice any woman could ever have. She had sung to him on her deathbed. She had left the world with one final gem for his lonely son—a song. Not words, but a song. Inuyasha would sing.

His achievements during middle school would make anyone proud and plenty of others jealous. But Inuyasha didn't care. He had finally had his chance.

Except there never really was a chance for him, he explained and Sesshomaru was already missing that beautiful smile of his.

He had debuted on air, won enough praise to last him a lifetime, but in his stupidity—in his happiness—he hadn't realized how dangerous his aspirations really were.

To his friends.

Hours before signing the contract he so longed for, he received a rather life-changing private call from a certain music producer. One of the tops of the business.

__You __don__'__t __belong __in __my __industry. __But __I __can__'__t __say __the __same __for __your __friends. __Sign __that __contract __with __that __sorry __excuse __of __a __studio __and __I __will _crush _you _and _whoever __else __tags __along. __Never __let __me __hear __a __peep __out __of __you __ever __again, __and __maybe __I__'__ll __be __nice. __It__'__s __your __call, __sweetheart.__

It had taken Inuyasha less than a second to agree to the conditions. He walks in, they'll all go down. He walks out, he could at least save his friends' futures. Not a really difficult choice, his brain had told him. And he had listened.

Inuyasha settled the empty cup on the table and sat back, his eyes closed and his head rolling backwards onto the cushioning softness of the sofa. He clarified his circumstances up until its current statuses. Sesshomaru listened attentively and quietly, his eyes illuminating respect. Inuyasha didn't doubt the man remembered every word he said. Sesshomaru did. Then Inuyasha smiled his smile and outstretched his arms and Sesshomaru conceded (eventually) and took him in his.

The perfect way to fleetingly conclude an unfinished story.

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A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I'll have the next one up soon… after I've received SLYSWN's approval. I'm sorry dear, I must admit it's become a rather bad habit of mine to start writing only after I've verified that you've read the latest chapter. Forgive me!

Also, please vote on my poll if you have the time. Reviews are pretty coolio too.


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